The police in Benue State have dismissed one Belasa Iyangedue, a constable, for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl while in detention.
The state Commissioner of Police, CP Batholomew Onyeka, made the disclosure during a press conference at his office in Makurdi.
Onyeka said that the Nigeria Police Force as a disciplined organisation would not tolerate such crime against the ethics of the profession.
He explained that the dismissed constable committed the crime at Tse Agbaragba Divisional Police Station in Konshisha Local Government Area of the state and was already facing prosecution.
“The police is a disciplined organ of government and being the statutory organ for crime fighting and crime management, people of such character cannot be allowed to be in the system. He was not only dismissed, he is facing prosecution,” the police commissioner said.
Meanwhile the victim was said to have been detained at the police station on August 15 over an offence bordering on defamation of character.
The case was reported against her by one Ngunan Iorhaa.
A First Information Report, (FIR) at the Magistrate Court Makurdi stated that the constable committed the crime on August 16, 2023, around 2pm.
It said while in detention, the constable went into the female cell and took her into an office where he forcefully had sexual intercourse with her.
The victim, after her release on bail the next day, reported the incident to the Divisional Police head.
The FIR indicated that during investigation, Iyangedue was arrested and he confessed to committing the offence, which is against Section 284 of the Penal Code Law of Benue State 2004.
