Police Arrest Girl-Battering Suspects

The police in Ebonyi State
have confirmed the arrest of Ogbonnaya Odi, an appointee of the state government, for stripping and battering a 14-year-old girl, Miss Uzoamaka Chukwu.
Our correspondent reports that the police had kept sealed lips on the arrest of Odi, the Coordinator of Ohaozara Development Centre in Ohaozara Local Government Area.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mrs Peace Ibekwe-Abdallah, told newsmen in Abakaliki that Odi was arrested last Thursday with two other accomplices by the Department of State Security (DSS).
“They were brought to the police command for stripping and whipping the victim with cables, canes and thereafter posted her nude pictures and video on the social media.
“Three policemen also indicted in the incident were arrested and are going through disciplinary procedures to enable prosecution to take place.
“The victim made her ‘painful’ statement and the case is being diligently investigated to ensure that justice is done,’’ Ibekwe-Abdallah said.
The victim was reportedly stripped and battered for alleged acts of promiscuity.
The teenager was allegedly flogged severally and had dry gin poured on her ‘peeling’ body by the suspects.
The commissioner also said that the command had ‘burst’ a notorious syndicate that specialised in child theft and trafficking at Uburu, also in Ohaozara Local Government Area.
She said that the syndicate came to Uburu with a Toyota Camry car with registration number BEN173AU to unleash their nefarious act on the people of the area.
She said that the suspects comprised of two men and one woman.
Ibekwe-Abdallah said that they were arrested through the combined efforts of the neighbourhood watch and the police.
She said that in the course of investigation, one Esther Agbowo from Nkalagu in Ishiellu Local Government Area, in company of her father, reported that she was lured with her two children to Delta by one Ekene.
She said that Ekene, who claimed to be a pastor, promised to marry Esther and took her to Asaba where she was abandoned and two children taken away.
“Esther returned to Ebonyi without the children and based on the report, the suspects were brought before her and she identified one as the man who went away with her children.
“Operatives of our anti-kidnap team swung into action and in the process, several suspects whom the children passed through in the transaction, were arrested,” the commissioner said.