From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
The Edo State Police Command has arrested a 28-year-old truck conductor, Abdurazak Ibrahim, for allegedly defiling a minor in the state.
The incident reportedly happened at Uromi in Esan South East Local Government of the state on September 13.
Parading the suspect, the command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, said the father of the victim, Tony Ekata, reported to the police that Abdurazak Ibrahim raped his daughter.
Chidi said the suspect, who is a truck motor boy, called the victim while she was hawking groundnuts along Ivue-Irrua Road, Uromi, Edo State, with the pretence to buy some groundnuts from her.
“The suspect attacked and pushed her inside the vehicle and forcefully had sex with her. The police stormed the scene and arrested the suspect. He said the suspect confessed to the crime, while the victim was taken to the hospital for medical examination.”
He said the suspect would soon be charged to court as soon as the investigation is completed.
In an interview with journalists, the suspect, who hails from Oyo State, denied the allegation, saying he was falsely accused.
“We were travelling on the Agbor road to Okpella and got stuck at Uromi, due to a bad road. We were there for days. On this day, we called the girl who was hawking groundnuts and I bought 100 groundnuts from her. And my colleague said the girl is calm and that I should marry her. I jokingly said while coming back I will seek her hand in marriage, and she left.
“But three hours later, I was sleeping inside the vehicle when the girl came to me and asked me if I was serious about the marriage I talked about; we were inside the vehicle when one boy came and accused me of raping her. I told him that nothing of such happened and the girl also said that I didn’t rape her and they all left. After a while, some boys came and accused me of raping the girl and they took me to the station. I didn’t rape her.”