NEWSTOP STORY

Widow arrested for face mask violation raped

A widow has narrated how policemen in Rivers State allegedly arrested and kept her for a long spell before one of them took her to a guest house where he raped her till dawn at gunpoint.
Her offence: she was not wearing a face mask.
A human rights activist, Prince Wiro, has called on the state police command to fish out the suspects.
The 32-year-old widow alleged that the policemen are attached to the Sakpenwa Police Division in Tai Local Government Area of the state.
She said: “I was returning from Bori to Port Harcourt on Tuesday when I met some police officers at a checkpoint. They arrested me for not wearing nose mask. They kept me long there with them. Thereafter they carried me from one place to the other, claiming they wanted to take me to the police station, but never took me to any police station.
“After some time, they took me to a guest house where one of them raped me till dawn.
Wiro asked the police command to begin an investigation into the allegation.
He said: “There is no justification for a punishment of rape to be meted out to a woman because she flouted Rivers State Government order on use of nose masks. I expect the police to take this matter serious.
Police spokesman Nnamdi Omoni said the matter was “receiving adequate attention”, adding that the woman had submitted a written statement on the development.
-The Nation