Operatives of the Anambra State Police Command have arrested two vigilantes for attempting to rape a 12-year-old girl at Nkutaku, Okpoko, in the Ogbaru Local Government Area of the state.
The girl was said to have been dragged to an abandoned structure by the suspects while she was going with a male neighbor around 10pm on Tuesday to lock up her mother’s shop in the area.
According to PUNCH, a police source at the Okpoko Police Division said while the two minors were walking along the street, the two vigilantes, armed with machetes and pump-action guns, accosted them.
After taking the minors to the abandoned structure on Obodoukwu Road, the suspects reportedly told the little boy to go home and bring N1,000 for bail for wandering at night.
However, the boy returned to their residence and narrated how they were taken away by the security operatives.
The girl’s father, Mr Lee Bibamde, a trader, was said to have called for a rescue team in search of the missing girl.
Bibamde, with the assistance of another vigilante and some elders, were taken to the scene, where they met the victim naked.
The victim’s father said, “They had also succeeded in removing her pants and tight. In fact, she was fully naked.”
A police source said, “The commander of the vigilance outfit did a wonderful job by arresting the suspects and handing them over to the police for prompt action. The matter is being investigated.”
The state police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, said the two suspects were in custody and would be charged at the end of investigation.