‘It was caused by external influence’

Police in Akwa Ibom parade 50-year-old man for rape
A FIFTY-YEAR-OLD man, Mr. Okon Michael, was Wednesday paraded by the Akwa Ibom State Police Command for allegedly raping a two-year- old girl in his shop.

Michael, who hails from Ibesikpo Asutan Local Council of the state is married with two children, aged 20 and 15. He was nabbed after
confession and laboratory tests proved that the minor was defiled.

Parading the suspect, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Cordelia Nwaiwu, described the act as wicked and barbaric, adding
that such practices against the female child would no longer be tolerated by the command.

She called on parents and guardians to be watchful over their children as immoral vices seem to be on the increase in the society.
The suspect, who claimed not to be oblivious of the crime he committed, even as press time, attributed his actions to an “external spiritual
influence.”
“I did not actually know when I did it and could not fathom how it happened. I believe it was spiritual because two days to the incident somebody warned me that something terribly bad would happen to me,” he explained.

Other major breakthroughs recorded by the police in recent times, the PPRO said, include the arrest of criminal gangs terrorising Ikot Ekpene and Uruan Local Councils and other gangs including girls who specialise in the production and distribution of Indian hemp.

Another gang was also intercepted while conveying a stolen transformer from Lagos to Akwa Ibom State.
The PPRO warned that women who were in the habit of helping male criminals under any guise, would not be spared by the command in its avowed commitment towards ridding the state of all forms of crime.

She expressed worry over the increasing cases of cultism- related crimes in the area, attributing the development to the proliferation of locally- made arms in the area.

The police image -maker called on the people of the state not to be afraid of volunteering information, as the police would not divulge
the source of such information to the suspect.

She also advised parents to exercise increased control over the activities of their children, as ignorance would no longer be tolerated as an
excuse when dealing with offenders, especially teenagers.