The family of the 14-year-old- girl who was allegedly defiled by a man, Chigozie Abana, has raised an alarm over the detention of their breadwinner, Chidi Arimnuta, purportedly on the orders of the suspect.
PUNCH Metro reports that the 14-year-old girl had accused her guardian, Abana, of raping her several times between June and July 2023, in his residence in Owerri, the Imo State capital, while his wife was pregnant.
She also alleged that the suspect flogged her with a belt at night whenever she rejected his advances.
According to the teenage girl, she eventually ran away from his house when her parents came to visit her in school after they could no longer reach her because the suspect limited her communication with her family while he perpetrated the act.
Following the publication of the report by PUNCH Metro, the father of the victim said the suspect boasted that nothing would happen to him as he was connected politically.
It was gathered that Arimnuta (the victim’s father) was arrested and detained on September 20 for allegedly daring to speak to the media about the allegations raised by his teenage daughter.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the father of the victim spent a night in detention after Abana was said to have accused him of speaking with the press.
The victim’s father was subsequently bailed the next day by a human rights activist, who does not want his name mentioned.
Speaking to our correspondent after his release, Arimnuta said, “The families made arrangements to see him and discuss the allegations raised by our daughter on Sunday but he suddenly called to say he would not be around on Sunday and that we should leave it till Monday.
“On Monday, he called again that he was not around and that we should leave it for Wednesday. That Wednesday, when we got to the place he invited us, we laid down our complaint, and then he started beating around the bush and was making calls in between the meeting.
“All of a sudden, policemen came to where we were sitting and he pointed at me, saying that I was the one who published the story. That was how I was arrested that day.”
It was gathered from the family of the victim that the suspect, Abana, was angry that a report on his alleged defilement of the minor was published and not the allegation itself.
“That was what made him angry,” he told our correspondent a day after his release.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Henry Okoye, said he was not aware of the case but directed that the father of the victim should put a call across to him “so that I can take necessary action.”
