Police, parent disagree on suspect’s age

The Enugu State Police Command has insisted that it will conduct a thorough investigation to ascertain the true age of Sunday Okeagu, a suspect accused of raping 15-year-old Joy (pseudonym).Sunday’s mother, Bridget, had said her son was born on February 15, 1999, but the state Public Relations Officer, DSP Ebere Amaraizu, said the police were working to determine Sunday’s real age and culpability in the alleged rape.It was gathered that Joy had visited Sunday on Thursday January 8, 2015 at his apartment in Nsukka, Enugu State, where he resided with his elder brother.Sunday, an apprentice learning electrical work, was said to be in a romantic relationship with Joy and the visit on Thursday was one of their many meetings.On the fateful day, Joy met Sunday alone in the house. She allegedly spent the night at Sunday’s place. When she returned home the following day, her house was locked as her parents had gone out. She was said to have gone back to plead with Sunday to help her gain access into her parents’ house. Sunday was said to have broken into the apartment for Joy to gain entry into the house.Joy’s parents subsequently got Sunday arrested and charged him for defiling their daughter. He was detained at the Nsukka Police Station.A Human Right Organisation, Paths of Peace Initiative, accused the police of human rights violation for detaining a minor for 10 days.According to the national coordinator of the group, Dandy Eze, the offence is bailable, wondering why the police are keeping the suspect in custody.“The police are compromising the situation in favour of the complainants. I learnt that a relative of the complainant’s relative is a police officer. The suspect has even been forced to admit he is 18-years-old so that they can frame him up,” he said.Bridget, in a telephone interview with PUNCH Metro said her son was eventually released after the family paid N28,750.She said, “We have been on this case for close to two weeks now. We were asked to pay N18,750 to the girl’s father as settlement and N10,000 for his bail. He was released this morning (Monday) and we were asked to report to the station on Wednesday. This was a girl that is so close to my son to the extent that she cooks for him. The brother had warned him to forget about the relationship and focus on his apprenticeship, but he would not listen.”Amaraizu, in his reaction, said that the police would not just buy into the mother’s claim without conducting a thorough investigation into the matter.“Anybody can claim whatever age they like. It is only through investigation that such claims can be confirmed or proven otherwise. If we agree that he is a minor without investigating, we will be putting the cart before the horse.“We are still investigating,” he said.

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