Civil Rights Realisation and Advancement Network (CRRAN) has called on the Enugu State Commissioner of Police to investigate the alleged rape and physical harm inflicted on one Goodness Pius by a gang of youth in Emene, an outskirt of Enugu the Enugu State capital.
In a petition by the President of the human rights group, Olu Omotayo, which was made available to News Echo in Enugu on Sunday, the activists condemned in its entirety, the alleged barbaric act.
The petition read in part, “We write to you in respect of the above-mentioned matter on behalf of Mrs. Prisca Eze, of No.7, Omeife Street, Agip, Emene, Enugu. Mrs. Eze is the elder sister of Goodness Pius (the victim).
“We visited the victim who was in pains on her hospital bed this afternoon, Mrs. Eze narrated how the victim was brutalized and gang raped by Mr. Okwudili and four other men on the 9th day of November 2020. She said the matter was reported to Area Command, Enugu on that Monday but the policemen on duty said they have not resume for public duty.
“We condemn this barbaric act of Okwudili and his cohorts in all ramifications. We urge concerned authorities to take necessary action in respect of this matter as the circumstances of this case demands.
“This is a heinous crime and it is crime against humanity. If the Police in Enugu said they have not resume duty, we urge sister security agencies to do the needful and arrest these criminals. We cannot allow our society to degenerate to animal kingdom where rule of the Jungle prevails.
“According to Mrs. Eze, sixteen year old Goodness was an apprentice to a petty fruits seller at Proda Junction, Enugu, where Okwudili also operates a provision store.
“On Friday 6th November 2020, Okwudili while going out it in the afternoon asked Goodness to help him look after her store but he didn’t come back in time and when Goodness wanted to close work around 6pm in the evening, she saw Okwudili wife and she gave her the key to Okwudili store which she refused to collect. When the poor girl waited till around 9pm she locked the gate to the provision store and pleaded with Okwudili wife to collect the key, which she later collected from her.
“When Goodness went to work on Monday the 9th November 2020, Okwudili, said she stole phone recharge cards worth N50 thousand naira only. Okwudili and his wife called four secret cult boys and they beat Goodness to stupor.
“Mrs. Eze said Okwudili and the four young men brought Goodness to her at home and said she stole; they continue beating her and when she challenged them to stop, they brought out a gun and threatened her. Okwudili and the four men later took Goodness away.
“Mrs. Eze said she rushed to Proda Junction where Okwudili’s provision store is situates but couldn’t seen Goodness. That it was around 5pm in the evening she got Okwudili phone number from his wife and when she called, Okwudili asked her to come to Ituku, Emene for her sister.
“Mrs. Eze further stated that she went to Ituku village with her husband and when they saw Okwudili he showed them Goodness lying unconscious in a pool of her own blood with injuries all over her body and head on a farmland
Goodness was taken to hospital, it was when she regained consciousness that she narrated how Okwudili and the four young men gang raped her and used knife to write 50K at her back.