Local News
Man Uses Nigerian Police To Arrest 17-Year-Old Girl For Refusing To Have Sex With Him
A Rivers State man only identified as James has reportedly initiated the arrest of a 17-year-old teenage girl in Rumuokwuta Obio’Akpor local government area of the state for refusing his sexual advances.
It was gathered that the man brought policemen from Kala Police Division in the state to arrest the girl at Best Man Estate in Rumuokuta, alleging that she declined his sexual advances after giving her money several times.
The Punch reports that the teenage girl identified as Miss Faith, who spoke to journalists in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, explained that she usually does pedicures for the man who leaves the balance for her after paying for services she rendered.
The 17-year-old girl who said that she has a shop where James brought policemen to arrest her, also admitted that the man sometimes gave her money but denied ever knowing why as he never told her the reason.
“James came to arrest me in my shop today. I have been cleaning his nails and each time he comes to my shop, I will clean his nails and he will tell me to keep the change.
“He gave me money sometimes and he never told me the reason why he was giving me this money, until when he finally told me to follow him to a hotel one day, but I refused. I told him I couldn’t go to a hotel with him because he is a married man. Since then, he had been telling me to sleep with him, but I refused.
“He then decided to bring policemen to my shop today to arrest me. They took me to the station and asked me to write a statement on how it happened and I wrote everything down,” Miss Faith narrated.
Meanwhile, James refused to speak with journalists, saying the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) had intervened in the matter.
According to sources, the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Grace Koko, said the girl had left with her parents after the DPO listened to both parties and warned the man to stop harassing the girl based on her age.
But a human rights group known as the Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign (CBRPAC), has said that it received a distress call from residents of the Best Man Estate about the development.
The National Coordinator of the group, Prince Wiro, told journalists that he spoke with the teenage girl on the telephone and some of the residents who insisted on accompanying the girl to the police station on the grounds that the complainant may have misinformed the police about what happened.
Wiro was quoted as saying, “Ordinarily, we would have pressed charges against the man for him to be charged for enticing and luring a minor but the parents of the girl held a different view.
“So we cannot cry more than the bereaved. My advice to people is that they should not hinder the police from carrying out their legitimate duties.
“Most times complainants would misinform the police, and it is only when the police have heard from both parties that they can make an informed decision.
“I equally advise our young girls to be mindful of the kind of men they take money from. Some men can go as far as even arranging people to rape women they think collected their money, especially when they do not get what they want from the women.”