Detectives from the Ondo State Police Command have finally arrested a middle-aged man who allegedly raped a 12-year-old pupil in the Igbokoda headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area.
The suspect reportedly lured the primary school girl, who was hawking puff-puff, into an uncompleted building, and forcibly defied her.
It was gathered that the suspect, who hails from Kebbi State, went into hiding after the committing the crime, and later traveled to Kebbi, where the detectives traced him to.
Demanding justice for her daughter, the victim’s mother, Madam Joy, explained that the incident happened on May 19, 2023. She said: “When my daughter arrived from school on this fateful day, she told me to allow her hawk puff-puff because we needed some money for her school fees.
“She returned home after an hour to eat and later left home to hawk again. When it was getting late, I told one of my sisters, who was going out, to help tell her to return home as it was getting late in the evening.
“At around a few minutes before 7 pm, she came back home, but immediately I saw her I knew something was wrong because she looks tired and exhausted. While she was trying to explain to me what happened to her when she fainted but was revived at the hospital.
“She was taken to the theatre for surgery, and she had tears. It was after she woke up that she narrated how an Aboki man raped her.
“She explained how the man forcefully raped her, and we set out to apprehend the man and hand him to the police, but we were surprised to learn that he had run away to Kebbi in Kebbi State.
“We reported the incident to the police, who told us that they have commenced a manhunt on the suspect and assured us that he will be made to face the wrath of the law”
She lamented that “we have spent a lot of money at the hospital, and she was discharged a few days ago after we went through hell before paying for the hospital bills. There is no one to help, and I have lost many things because of this incident.
“We reported the case to the police, and they demanded she takes us to where the incident happened, where the police recovered some items as evidence.
“We were later told the suspect had run away from the town, as confirmed by their Seriki (leader) while the police told us they are on the case and have sent people to Kebbi to arrest him.”
She, however, said some people have been pestering the family to drop the case against the suspect while some human rights had been coming to know the truth of the matter.
She said the little girl has not been herself since the incident happened, noting that the she is traumatised and the incident affected the family negatively.
Confirming the incident, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO),Funmi Odunlami, said the command has launched a manhunt on the suspect.
Odunlami also said some detectives have been sent to Kebbi to arrest the suspect.
He said the command is at the verge of bringing the suspect back from Kebbi State promising that justice will take its cause as soon as the suspect is brought back, and investigations concluded.
The PPRO said: “It is true, and we are looking for him. He will be arrested and made to face the law very soon, our men have traveled to Kebbi to arrest the suspect.