Police officers attached to the Imo State Police Command have harassed and tried to intimidate a 15-year-old rape victim on the orders of the main suspect a day after they refused to act on her report without a N100,000 bribe.
Videos of the victim’s elder sister, crying out for help have gone viral on X and Instagram since Saturday. The lady in the viral video did not mention her name and FIJ can only identify the victim’s first name — Nwakago.
FIJ found the video on the X handle of Somto Okonkwo (@General_Somto). In the video, Nwakago’s sister said she received a distressing voice note from her younger sister, who informed her that their 15-year-old sibling had been raped while the family was in their hometown in Imo State for festive celebrations.
The family members had gone out to witness a masquerade festival in their community, leaving the 15-year-old girl alone at home. During their absence, the victim recounted, a man forced his way into their compound with a knife, threatened the girl, and raped her.
The family immediately reported the incident at a police station located around the Government House area in Imo State. However, officers at the station told them that they would only take the victim’s statement after the payment of N100,000.
“I woke up this morning and my younger sister sent a voice note to me that something terrible has happened, and I’m like, ‘What heppened?’ So, immediately, I had to reach out to her, and she was like her younger sister was raped in Imo State, in my community. They all went home for the festive celebration. My other siblings and this my sister that called went to, there’s this place they do like, this masquerade. So, they went to experience the masquerade celebration thing, and my other sister was at home alone because she didn’t want to go out,” the lady narrated.
“Then, she said to me that someone came into the compound with a knife and had a forceful entry on my sister, and this my sister I’m talking about, she’s not even up to 18 years, she’s just 15 years old. The person that had the forceful entry on her threatened her, said a lot of things, like you know, someone holding a knife on a girl child like that.
“Immediately, they went to the police station to lay a complaint to the police, and getting to the station, police were like, for them to be able to write their statement, they have to pay the sum of N100,000. This is the police station around the government house in Imo State.”
Following the very public exposure of the Imo Policemen’s conduct, the Nigeria Police Force Complaint Response Unit (NPF-CRU) reacted to the video on X.
In a statement, the NPF-CRU said the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the GRA Division, Imo State, and the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) involved had been summoned to the Police Force Headquarters in Abuja for questioning.
“The Divisional Police Officer, GRA @ImoPoliceNG and the IPO (Investigating Police Officer) have been summoned and will be at Police Force Headquarters, Abuja, for questioning concerning this complaint by next week,” the statement read. “Thank you for contacting NPF-CRU. #NoToImpunity.”
At press time, the Imo State Police Command had not issued a separate statement on the matter.
