Photo: 3 male Nursing students arrested for allegedly defiling 6yr old pupil in Edo

Three male students of the School of Nursing, Benin city in Edo state have been arrested for allegedly defiling 6 year old Miss Sharon Eghobamien pictured above, a pupil of Eriya Group of Schools, Ihogbe, Benin-City, Edo State, at her mother’s shop in Benin city on May 25th. 

According to Vanguard, Sharon's mother Mrs. Eghobamien, a casual worker in the school of Nursing, noticed that her daughter had been walking in an unusual manner and constantly complained of abdominal pains, urinating frequently and defecating.

When she interrogated her, Sharon revealed that the three male students named Kennedy, Paul Aghama and Jeffery usually come to the shop when she wasn't around and took her to their room in their hostel where they took their turns to defile her.

“I begin to question her and she then told me that whenever I am not in the shop, these boys always took her away through the window to their hostels to defile her. I took her to the Central Hospital Benin where she was examined by a doctor and it was discovered that she had been defiled and her hymen was already broken. I then reported the case at the Aideyan Police Station, Benin City and from there it was transferred to Esigie Police Station, the section in charge of defilement cases in Benin. While police officers at Esigie Police Station were carrying out discreet investigation to unravel the intrigues behind the defilement as instructed by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. James Ezike, the suspects and their cohorts concocted a frivolous petition to the office of the AIG, Zone 5.”she said

Mrs Eghobamien said while the suspects under investigation by the state Police Command were in detention, some officials of the School of Nursing approached her, asking her to withdraw the case from the police. Her refusal cost her her shop in the school premises and she was also deprived of removing her wares in the her shop since then. She said that her life was threatened and following the boasting from the suspects that they have some powerful individuals,  who would use their positions to influence the Office of the AIG, Zone 5 investigating the case to give them a safe landing. This prompted her to contact a Benin based legal practitioner, Olayiwola Afolabi,  who immediately petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, over the matter. In the petition, her lawyer appealed to the IGP to allow an independent panel of police investigators in- charge of defilement matters other than those from the office of the AIG Zone 5 to conduct fresh investigation into the,matter.

According to Mr Afolabi, certain powerful persons had used their positions to influence the office of the AIG, Zone 5 to sweep the heinous crime under the carpet and more so, cases of rape fall under the purview of the state Police Command.

“To our greatest chagrin, our client was told that the said investigation report contains among other things that her daughter, who is only six years old is the one responsible for her broken hymen by using instruments to penetrate her vagina; this fact only points to one direction, that the boasting of the suspects was true. The curious thing about this matter is that while the case was pending at AIG Zone 5, Ministry of Health officers that oversee the School of Nursing called our client to come with her daughter that was defiled. After our client and her daughter had made statement to them, they began to ask her what exactly she wanted with the case at the AIG Zone 5, using her words. We have laboured to bring before the Inspector General of Police the various intrigues associated with this case due to the fact that the family of the victim has no money but we believe the Inspector General of Police is only our hope in this matter,” he said.

The Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, has received their petition and has asked for a fresh investigation into the matter which is to be handled by the Edo state Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezkike, through his Principal Staff Officer, Idowu Owohunwa (ACP).