Sgt Abraham Uzuobo, an officer attached to Edo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force, is presently facing disciplinary action for reportedly raping a minor detained at South-Ibie police division.
The suspect, a 17-year-old girl, was detained for allegedly receiving stolen property.
According to sources with knowledge of the development, Uzobo sneaked into the cell after Inspector Edith Eduma, a female officer, who was on duty, stepped out briefly.
He was said to have unlocked the cell, taking the teenager to the admin department where he reportedly took advantage of her.
In a video of the incident reviewed by our correspondent, the suspect was seen lying on the floor, while the policeman who was caught pant down, argued with the policewoman in charge of the case, as he rushed to put on his trouser.
An insider told Daily Trust that the incident occurred on October 10, 2024. An internal correspondence of the force seen by our correspondent confirmed that it happened last week.
Inspector Eduma was said to have suspected foul play when she returned to find the key to the cell missing.
She raised the alarm and Uzobo and the suspect were traced to one of the offices in the administrative section of the station.
A source said rather than report the incident to the authorities, the officer informed her husband and two others who are both policemen.
She was said to have later collected N45,000 from the embattled officer to conceal the crime and subsequently blackmailed him to either pay additional N1 million to avoid the video being uploaded on social media.
Although Daily Trust cannot independently verify these allegations, the signal of the force documented the blackmail.
Both Uzoba and Eduma have faced orderly room trial and have been recommended for dismissal over the shameful act.
When contacted, Police Public Relations Officer, SP Moses Yamu, said he would issued a statement on the incident later as he was on the road from Auch to Benin.
Asked if the incident was true, the PPRO neither said yes or no till he ended the conversation.
Repeated calls to his phone were not answered while the text message sent had not been replied as of the time of filling this report.
The development comes after another 17-year-old girl was raped inside Ogudu Police Station in Lagos State.
The Lagos victim had reportedly lost her phone to ‘one chance’ robbers and the policeman promised to help her retrieve it.
Narrating her ordeal, the victim had said: “On June 29, officer Owolabi called my mum on her phone and told her he had arrested the person with my phone and my mum should send me to his police station and I went there. On getting there, I was told they made a mistake with the tracking, and that the person caught wasn’t the one with my phone.
“The officer sent his personal assistant to call me into his office and he showed me directions there. When I entered his office and greeted him, he replied and got up to lock the door and put the key in his pocket. I shouted, ‘Sir, why did you lock the door?’
“He started trying to pull my clothes off and I shouted, then he brought out a gun, cocked it, and threatened to shoot me if I shouted. Then he began harassing me and when I struggled with him he hit me on the back of my head with the gun and raped me.”
The suspect was later arrested. – Daily Trust.
