Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
Six teenage boys are cooling their heels in police custody after they were arrested for allegedly gang-raping a 19-year-old girl in Anam community, Anambra West Local Government Area, Anambra State.
The suspects, Afam Ezenwa, Chijioke Ifeanyi, Collins Obadom, Abuchi Okechukwu, Chima Obiekezie, and Sunday Okafor, were arrested following a video that went viral on the internet.
It was gathered that one of the suspects reportedly filmed the rape of the victim while it lasted.
Confirming the arrest, the State Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Mrs Ify Obinabo, said the case had been transferred to the state criminal investigative department of the police in Awka, where they would be charged in court for their crime.
She said the victim had been rescued.
Interacting with the victim and her parents in her office, Obinabo decried the high rate of crimes among delinquents and called on parents and guardians to stop spoiling their children by pampering them.
She reassured that Gov. Chukwuma Soludo-led administration would not tolerate any form of crime in the state, noting that justice would take its full course.
Narrating her ordeal, the victim said, “It all happened when I visited my maternal home in Oramaetiti and was ambushed by a group of boys who took me to a room and took turns in defiling me.
“Despite my plea, the young boys, who were between the ages of 16, 17, 18, 20, and 27 years old respectively, did not stop but continued while one of them was filming me during the act,” she said.
The visibly devastated rape victim further revealed that she was attacked by another set of boys after she was rescued by neighbours who were attracted by her scream for help.
“After I was rescued and was on my way home, I was accosted by another set of boys who first harassed me and forced me to pull down my underwear and give it to them. I gave it to them because they threatened to kill me.”
However, she revealed that she was later taken home to her parents by a good Samaritan.
