Man rapes 12-yr-old girl in Ebonyi

A local government staff of Okposi Development Centre in Ebonyi State, Chieze Nwankwo, was Tuesday, reported to have allegedly raped a 12-year-old girl, Miss Chioma Nwankwo, who resides in his compound.

The incident, which has received a lot of condemnation from the people of the area, was reported to the police station in the area and later transferred to Obiozara Police Station for proper investigation.

According to our sources, the victim, who is a primary six pupil of Umunoka Primary School, Okposi, was lured by Hon. Nwankwo with an apple when she went to fetch water to take her bath. Narrating her ordeal in the hands of the rapist, Miss Chioma Nwankwo explained that the accused lured her with an apple and that before she knew what was happening, he had removed her clothes and over powered her.

In her words, “When I took my bucket to fetch water at the well, Honourable Chieze called me to his house and said I should come and collect an apple. I went in to collect the apple and asked him whether he too would also eat but before I could understand what was happening, he quickly pulled off his clothes, pushed me to the ground and fell on top of me.

“I told him to get off me but he refused and I started crying but there was nobody in the compound until my mother started calling me. I told him that my mother was calling me but he refused to listen to me until my mother came and pushed the door open.

“As soon as he saw my mother, he took his towel and told my mother that it was an apple he wanted to give to me.”
Father of the victim, Mr. Peter Ogbonnaya, who is a motorcycle mechanic, wondered why such an immoral act should be committed against his daughter and called on the state government, Non Governmental Organisations, NGOs and relevant security agencies in the country to come to the aid of the family so that appropriate punishment could be meted out on the culprit.

Meanwhile, mother of the victim, Mrs. Nnena Nwankwo, was said to have taken her daughter to Okposi general hospital where medical examinations had been conducted to ascertain the state of her daughter.

At the time of this report, the culprit, who is a Management Committee member in charge of Works department in Okposi Development Centre, was alleged to have been released from police custody by some of his colleagues.