The management of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE), has been accused of aiding and abating justice after the institution allegedly refused to hand over a staff member accused of rape to the police for prosecution.
The suspect identified as 60-year-old Mgbechi Wekwea, a staff in the security department of the institution reportedly abducted a 16-year-old girl at gunpoint and raped her because of her mother's refusal to marry him.
According to the mother of the girl, Mrs. Edwin Kindness, who is a widow, Wekwe had asked for her hand in marriage but she later opted out of the marriage deal because she was no longer comfortable with his character. The suspect accused her daughter of being the reason and threatened to kill her for opting out of the marriage proposal.
She alleged that the suspect had planned with some boys and abducted her daughter on Wednesday 13, January 2021 and she was raped afterwards. The case was reported to the police two days after the incident and all efforts to arrest the suspect have been futile.
A human right group, Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign working on the case accused the management of IAUE of shielding the suspect after the divisional police headquarters wrote to the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Professor Ozo -Mekuri Ndimele, about the incident, and the suspect is yet to be handed over to the Police.
