Abdurazak Ibrahim, a 28-year-old truck driver from Edo State, was detained by law enforcement on September 13 for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl in Uromi, Esan South East LGA.
The victim’s father reported the incident to the police, according to the command’s spokesperson, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, who also paraphrased the suspect.
According to Chidi, the suspect pretended to want to buy groundnuts when he called the victim while she was selling them on Ivue-Irrua Road.
He said, “The suspect assaulted her, shoved her inside a car, and forced intercourse with her. When the police arrived, the culprit was taken into custody.
While the victim was being transferred to the hospital for a medical examination, the suspect confessed to the crime, the speaker stated.
The suspect, who is from Oyo State, however, disputed the charge in a press conference and claimed he had been wrongly accused.
He explained, “We were taking the Agbor Road to Okpella when the terrible road caused us to become trapped in Uromi. We spent several days there. I phoned the hawker girl on this particular day and purchased N100 worth of groundnuts from her. My coworker advised me to get married to the girl since she was so composed. She fled when I made a joke about asking her parents’ permission to marry her when I returned.
“However, three hours later, I was sound asleep inside the car when the girl approached me and enquired as to whether or not I was sincere about the proposed marriage. One of the boys approached us while we were in the car and accused me of raping the girl.
“I informed him that nothing of the sort occurred, and the girl confirmed that I did not rape her, after which they all left. Soon after, a group of boys accused me of raping the girl and dragged me to the police station. No, I did not rape her.