The Edo State Police Command has confirmed the dismissal of a woman Inspector Edith Uduma and Sergeant Abraham Uzuobor over their roles during and after the rape of a detained 17-year-old female suspect.
Uduna’s husband, Inspector Ibrahim Mohammed, was also demoted to a Sergeant for his role after the rape.
The outcome of the orderly room trial conducted over the incident was disclosed by the Edo State Police Command in a statement on Sunday evening by its Spokesperson, Moses Joel Yamu, a Superintendent of Police.
Saying that the Command deemed it necessary to set the records straight regarding the punishment meted out to the officers, the statement by SP Yamu said that the orderly room trial “led to the dismissal of Sgt. Abraham and Insp Edith Uduma. Her husband, Insp Ibrahim Mohammed, however, was reduced to the rank of Sergeant for getting criminally involved in demanding for money to conceal such a gross violation of the Standard Operating Procedure of the Nigeria Police.”
The Command therefore warned that “no amount of propaganda, disinformation or misinformation can absolve [W/Insp. Edith Uduma] or the husband from facing the punishment meted on them.”
It added that anyone of them that was displeased with the judgement had the right to appeal as stipulated in the Police Act and Regulation.
According to the Police report on the rape of the 17-year-old female suspect: “On 10 October, at about 9pm, in South Ibie, Etsako West local government area of Edo, Sergeant Uzuobor, allegedly removed a 17-year-old female suspect from a cell and raped her in the admin office.
“The Charge Room Officer [W/Inspector Edith Eduma] who noticed the cell key was not with her, rushed to the cell and discovered the suspect detained for receiving stolen property was not in the cell. She subsequently went to the admin office where she caught the Sergeant in the act and recorded the incident.
“The Charge Room Officer (CRO) AP/No. 228719 W/Inspector Edith Eduma refused to inform the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) or the Incident Duty Officer. Rather, she called her husband, and two others who are policemen and then collected the sum of N45,000 from the Sergeant to conceal the crime.
“On the 11th of October 2024, at about 4 am, she called the Sergeant again to either pay her an additional one million naira or she would post the video on social media.”
The police said carrying out her threat, the woman officer posted the video online when Uzuobor could not pay her demand of ₦1 million. The Police authorities got to know of the development after the video went viral on Social Media especially X (formerly Twitter).
Both officers were made to face orderly room trials at the Police Area Command, Auchi, Edo State.