Akwa Ibom: Police arrests man for raping 15-year-old daughter and more

A 34-year-old man, Godwin Ime Willie, has been arrested by the police in Akwa Ibom for allegedly raping his 15-year-old daughter.

Police spokesperson in the state, CSP Frederick N’Nudam said in a statement Thursday, that Willie was arrested by detectives, for having carnal knowledge of his teenage daughter at Ikot Ubo in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state.

N’Nudam revealed that the suspect is one of the five persons arrested for rape and other gender-based violence in the state.

Among those arrested is Edidiong Daniel Tommy, a motorcycle rider who raped and robbed his 16-year-old passenger.

Tommy was said to have diverted the passenger to his house at No. 75 Hospital Road in Abak Local Government Area, where he and his accomplice, now at large, raped the 16-year-old girl at gunpoint.

“The suspects thereafter dispossessed the victim of her phone valued at Seventeen Thousand Naira (N17,000) and the sum of Fifty Thousand Naira (N50,000),” Mr N’Nudam said.

The police said it has also arrested 30-year-old Sam Akpan for allegedly raping a 10-year-old girl in Eket Local Government Area.

Akpan bought cooked cow skin, popularly known as “Kpomo,” worth Two Hundred Naira (N200.00) from the 10-year-old girl and thereafter lured her to his house on the pretext that he left the money at home. 

“On reaching his house, he dragged the girl to his room and forcefully had carnal knowledge of her,” the police spokesperson said.

Additionally, 36-year-old Joseph Ekeruke Inyang was also arrested by the police for raping a 15-year-old girl, after luring her to his room with Five Hundred Naira (N500).

The police said he was arrested by its operatives in Utu Etim Ekpo in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of the state, following a tip-off.

CSP N’Nudam also revealed that police operatives attached to Ikot Ekpene Division apprehended 34-year-old Nsisong Moses Asuquo, who allegedly raped his 13-year-old housemaid.

“Investigation revealed that the suspect took the victim from her guardian to his home on the pretext of being a housemaid and severally defiled her before sending her away,” he said.

The police spokesman stated that the Commissioner of Police, CP Imohimi Edgal, had reassured the victims of rape and other gender-based violence of effective remedies and protection against stigmatization and threats as encapsulated in all extant laws.

He warned members of the public against rape and other forms of sexual violence.

In reaction to the growing incidence of rape in the state, the Akwa Ibom State Governor Mr Udom Emmanuel recently signed the Akwa Ibom State Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2020. 

The new law prescribes life imprisonment for anyone found guilty of rape and a 14-year prison term for perpetrators of gender-based violence and any kind of sexual offence other than rape.