The Anambra Police Command has launched a manhunt for a middle-aged man residing in the Fegge area of the commercial city of Onitsha for absconding after allegedly raping an eight-year-old pupil of Lafiagi Primary School in the town.
Residents of Calabar Street, where the man whose name was not immediately given was residing, had been complaining to the police of his frequent waylaying of school girls at odd hours and defiling them in the process.
According to an eye witness, the suspect had lured the eight-year-old girl to his residence on her way to school, adding that although she continued her journey after incident, the blood stains on her school uniform attracted passers-by who reported the matter to her school authorities.
The eye witness added that because of the frequent reports of child rape in the area, some people in the neighbourhood volunteered to get to the root of the matter by ensuring that the school authorities reported the matter to the Fegge Police Station.
It was gathered that the police subsequently invited the suspect’s mother and other people in the area for interrogation on the whereabouts of the suspect and it was then that the police was informed that he fled after the incident.
The eye witness said: “There have been several reports against this man that he was fond of raping and defiling minors within the neighbourhood.
“Luck, however, ran against him this time around because in this particular incident, stains of blood were all over his victim’s school uniform and passersby became curious of the situation.”
Mr. Rabiu Garba, the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in charge of the Fegge Division, confirmed the incident and said that the victim was later taken to the Onitsha Police Area Command clinic where she received treatment.
The DPO said that he had already mobilised his men to hunt for the suspect, assuring that he must be brought to book.
