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Man arrested for sexually assault of one-year-old girl
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From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Police in Plateau State say they have arrested nine persons in connection with another planned attack on the Angwan Rukuba community in the Jos North Local Government Area of the state.
The nine suspects were among those paraded by the Commissioner of Police, Bassey Ewah, at the police headquarters on Friday for committing various crimes.
According to Ewah, the nine suspects, who were members of the dreaded Sara Suka sect, were arrested in Jos as they were planning an attack to avenge the killing of their family members during the Palm Sunday attack in the area, in which more than 30 persons were murdered.
He said, “Among those paraded were nine members of the Sara Suka sect who were planning to attack Angwan Rukuba. They said they are planning to avenge the killing of their relations during the last attack in the area. We also recovered arms and other weapons from them.”
Also paraded by the commissioner of police was a student of the University of Jos, who was caught with a pistol and a human skull.
Ewah also paraded a group of suspects in connection with the murder of 40-year-old gym instructor Ebubechukwu Kelvin Ihionu.
Ihionu was murdered immediately after the Angwan Rukuba attack, and his body was recovered near the University of Jos. The arrest of the suspects followed the recovery of the victim’s phone from one of them, who subsequently led the police to other accomplices.
According to the police commissioner, on 01/04/2025 at about 09:30 am, the police received a report that 40-year-old Ihionu, of Utan, Jos North LGA, was lynched very close to the University of Jos permanent site by a mob.
He said, “Upon receipt of the report, our men immediately swung into action; the phone of the deceased was tracked and recovered from one Usman Idris. Upon conducting an interview of the suspect, he revealed that he bought the phone from one Abba Musa, male, who also revealed that he bought it from a third suspect, one Abubakar Sadiq Mustapha.”
“Further investigation revealed that Abubakar Sadiq Mustapha was the one who picked up the phone from the scene of the attack.”
The police also paraded some suspects for acts of gross indecency, criminal force, rape, and unnatural offences.
One of those arrested was a suspected rapist, 19-year-old Longnan Joshua, who was caught having carnal knowledge of a one-year-old girl.
According to him, “The victim’s mother, who is a student, usually leaves the victim in the care of her elder brother. On that fateful day, she came back home to meet her brother bathing the victim with cold water. She became suspicious, and upon close observation, she noticed that the victim seemed to be stooling blood.”
“She questioned the brother, and he revealed that whenever he was left at home with his sister, the said Longnan Joshua (the suspect) would send him to buy biscuits or peanuts for him. Upon his return, he would find the suspect naked, on top of the victim, having sexual intercourse with her through the anus. He also revealed that it had happened on several occasions, but on that particular day, there was blood coming out of her anus, so he decided to bathe her.”
He said both the suspect and the victim were taken to the General Hospital, Pankshin, for medical examination.
“Medical examination carried out on the victim revealed that the victim’s anus appears to be hyperaemic, with bleeding gushing out of the anus. A small amount of semen was also discovered from the anus, suggesting sexual assault on her.”
In another case of defilement, the commissioner said 19-year-old Douglas Madaki, of Ikukumu village, Tudun Wada, Jos North LGA, was caught having carnal knowledge of a seven-year-old girl on several occasions and warning her not to tell anyone.
According to him, the complainant overheard a conversation between two seven-year-old girls, where one was narrating how the suspect had lured her into his room on several occasions and had carnal knowledge of her.
Ewah said she further revealed that “he had done this to her over five times, and on each occasion, he threatened her not to tell anyone.”
The commissioner also paraded other suspects arrested for criminal intimidation, criminal force, incest, and defilement, as well as suspects for criminal conspiracy, causing grievous hurt, sexual harassment, drug peddling, and other sundry offences.
He said that all the cases are undergoing investigations and the suspects would be charged to court as soon as the investigations were concluded.
