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Men of the Rivers State Police Command have arrested a 22-year-old man, Raymond Isiodu, who fled after allegedly defiling an 11-year-old girl in Ogbogu in the Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of the state.

The arrest followed the alarm raised by a relative of the victim, Benjamin Enyeoha, accusing the police of compromising the investigation of the matter which was reported at the Obite Police Station.

Enyeoha, who described the girl as his niece, spoke with journalists in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Monday.

He stated, “I rushed to Obite Police station. The police gave us a police extract. They told us to go to Doctor’s Without Border in Port Harcourt, where we went and got a sexual violence certificate.

But a spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, in a statement on Tuesday said the suspect was released to a surety due to what she described as “unforeseen circumstances” and was asked to report back to the police station at a later date.

Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police, said rather than report back to the station as instructed, the suspect absconded which led to a manhunt to ensure his re-arrest which eventually materialised.

The statement read, “The suspect, who was supposed to report back to the station fled after he was released to a reliable surety.

“Following a manhunt launched for by the Divisional Police Officer and his operatives, the suspect was arrested this early morning of October 17, 2023, and will be transferred to State CID, Port Harcourt for further investigation.”