Edith CHUKU
A human rights activist in Rivers State, Mr. Prince Wiro, has vehemently condemned the alleged defilement of a 14-year-old boy by a certain Mr. Chigozie Okpara.
Wiro who is the National Coordinator of Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, urged the state Police command to thoroughly investigate the matter.
In an exclusive interview with TNN on Tuesday, he said “First of all I must commend the vigilante group. I understand that it’s the vigilante group in that area, around Okujagu that apprehended him before handing him over to the Police; Trans Amadi Police station, I must commend them first.
“This incident is not peculiar to Rivers State. It has been happening in other states and those are one of the things we are saying that the issue of sexual assault now is not only the girl child that is vulnerable, we also have situations where the male child are also vulnerable.
“The act is condemnable and don’t also forget that the act of homosexual is an offense in Nigeria, there is a section of the law that criminalizes homosexual in the first place and this one the defilement have to do with a male adult against an underage boy not the other way round.
“We condemn it and we are asking the Police to carry out a thorough investigation and if the suspect is found culpable in the course of investigation he should be charged accordingly with the appropriate section of the law.”
Recall that members of a local vigilante group in the Okujagu community in Trans-Amadi, Port Harcourt, arrested Chigozie Okpara, a suspected homosexual on Sunday night for allegedly having carnal knowledge of an underage boy.
It was alleged that the man, who is in his 40s, said he worked with a security company in Port Harcourt and usually lured his unsuspecting victims with food and snacks into his house before defiling them.
A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that during interrogation the suspect confessed that he is a homosexual and that he had been perpetrating the act while he was living in Lagos State before relocating to Port Harcourt two years ago.
Luck reportedly ran out on him when he was making out with one of his victims who was screaming in his room, and the noise attracted residents of the area who alerted the vigilante group.
When contacted, the spokesperson of the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident, saying the suspect, who is already in custody, would be prosecuted.
Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police, said “Yes, I can confirm the incident. The suspect has been arrested and is presently in our custody.
“Investigation is ongoing. The matter has been transferred to the State Criminal and Intelligence Department. We will ensure that the suspect is prosecuted.”
