A
mobile policeman, Gbuchenge Augustine, of Mobile Police Unit 22, Ikeja,
Lagos State, has disappeared after an eight-yearold girl, Amarachi, was
found under his bed. The girl’s mouth was sealed while her legs and
hands were tied when she was discovered.
Amarachi also had a broken skull and twisted neck. She was very weak, unable to speak and motionless.
Augustine, with force number 400823, was said to have fled as soon as he heard that the girl had been discovered in his one-room apartment at No. 1, Olufowobi Street, Ikosi Ketu.
Some of the residents of the area claimed the man wanted to use the girl for ritual.
That, however, has not been established. The incident attracted the ire of the youths in the area who mobilised, chanted war songs and frantically searched for the policeman.
Trouble started on Thursday evening when Amarachi’s parents, Mr and Mrs Patrick Abakwan, who had gone out for their daily businesses, returned and could not find their daughter. Her mother was the first to return home, but since she was busy outside their compound, she did not know that Amarachi was missing.
She later said she thought the girl had gone to sleep inside. The father, a driver with Strands Communications Limited, explained that when he returned from work, he discovered that Amarachi did not come to greet him. Abakwan asked for Amarachi’s whereabouts, but his wife said the girl was sleeping.
He said: “When they went to call her, she was nowhere to be found. That was how we started searching for her and we couldn’t find her. “Our saving grace was a child in the compound. The child told us that she saw Oga Olopa (the policeman), carrying Amarachi from our room where she was sleeping into his one-room apartment. “You know as a child, nobody took her seriously, but the child insisted that Amarachi was in the policeman’s room. “The policeman, we gathered, had before the incident, sent Amarachi to buy bean cake (Akara) for him.
He later on sent her to buy recharge card before she went to sleep. “When it became obvious that the girl might not be found easily, her mother confronted the policeman, asking him to provide her daughter since she was last seen with him.” Abakwan explained that Augustine, who was smoking outside his room when he was confronted, got up and pretended as if he was angry at the accusation. Fuming, Augustine threatened that he was going to the police station to lodge a complaint of false accusation. But that was the last anyone in the area saw of him.
The girl’s parents rushed to the Ketu Police Station and a policeman was detailed to the compound to start investigation. According Abakwan, the policeman said he had no power to break and enter Augustine’s apartment, but asked for a stool.
The policeman climbed the stool, peeped through the window and saw a little girl’s legs under the bed, struggling to be free from the rope binding her legs. He then decided to rush back to the station to mobilise other policemen to the scene. But before he came back, the angry crowd had brokeninto the room and freed Amarachi. “The most important thing was the safety of my daughter,” said Abakwan.
He added: “When we went into the room, we brought out Amarachi with her mouth, legs and hands tied. Only her legs were outside as she was struggling to free herself, but the upper part of her body was under the man’s bed, she couldn’t speak. “The man had twisted her neck and used an object to break her skull thinking that she would die in the process, but God saved her! My interest was to save my daughter.
We rushed her to Dafe Medical Hospital where they refused to admit her.” The parents moved the girl to Gbagada General Hospital where they were advised that she should be transferred to Island General Hospital where the girl is recuperating.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, confirmed the story. She said: “I heard of that wicked act and we have started investigation. I have contacted the commander in charge of MOPOL 22, where the complainant alleged the suspect to be working. “The commander said there was no such name or identity in his squadron.
“Meanwhile, we have sent signals to other police departments and stations to ascertain if this man is actually a serving policeman. That act is inhuman and whoever did that will never go unpunished.”
Sources alleged that several items were found in the man’s room, including children’s wears, shoes, police uniform, and a big ‘Ghana Must Go’ bag believed to be the sack he wanted to put the girl in and take her to an unknown destination. The residents alleged that Augustine, who moved into the house four years ago, suddenly became very rich, with more than four state-ofthe- art cars in his possession.
He was alleged to be a night crawler, who goes out at odd hours. “The man is always carrying Ghana Must Go bags into the vehicle and he has this habit of going out and coming out from 1am to 4 am,” a resident said.
Amarachi also had a broken skull and twisted neck. She was very weak, unable to speak and motionless.
Augustine, with force number 400823, was said to have fled as soon as he heard that the girl had been discovered in his one-room apartment at No. 1, Olufowobi Street, Ikosi Ketu.
Some of the residents of the area claimed the man wanted to use the girl for ritual.
That, however, has not been established. The incident attracted the ire of the youths in the area who mobilised, chanted war songs and frantically searched for the policeman.
Trouble started on Thursday evening when Amarachi’s parents, Mr and Mrs Patrick Abakwan, who had gone out for their daily businesses, returned and could not find their daughter. Her mother was the first to return home, but since she was busy outside their compound, she did not know that Amarachi was missing.
She later said she thought the girl had gone to sleep inside. The father, a driver with Strands Communications Limited, explained that when he returned from work, he discovered that Amarachi did not come to greet him. Abakwan asked for Amarachi’s whereabouts, but his wife said the girl was sleeping.
He said: “When they went to call her, she was nowhere to be found. That was how we started searching for her and we couldn’t find her. “Our saving grace was a child in the compound. The child told us that she saw Oga Olopa (the policeman), carrying Amarachi from our room where she was sleeping into his one-room apartment. “You know as a child, nobody took her seriously, but the child insisted that Amarachi was in the policeman’s room. “The policeman, we gathered, had before the incident, sent Amarachi to buy bean cake (Akara) for him.
He later on sent her to buy recharge card before she went to sleep. “When it became obvious that the girl might not be found easily, her mother confronted the policeman, asking him to provide her daughter since she was last seen with him.” Abakwan explained that Augustine, who was smoking outside his room when he was confronted, got up and pretended as if he was angry at the accusation. Fuming, Augustine threatened that he was going to the police station to lodge a complaint of false accusation. But that was the last anyone in the area saw of him.
The girl’s parents rushed to the Ketu Police Station and a policeman was detailed to the compound to start investigation. According Abakwan, the policeman said he had no power to break and enter Augustine’s apartment, but asked for a stool.
The policeman climbed the stool, peeped through the window and saw a little girl’s legs under the bed, struggling to be free from the rope binding her legs. He then decided to rush back to the station to mobilise other policemen to the scene. But before he came back, the angry crowd had brokeninto the room and freed Amarachi. “The most important thing was the safety of my daughter,” said Abakwan.
He added: “When we went into the room, we brought out Amarachi with her mouth, legs and hands tied. Only her legs were outside as she was struggling to free herself, but the upper part of her body was under the man’s bed, she couldn’t speak. “The man had twisted her neck and used an object to break her skull thinking that she would die in the process, but God saved her! My interest was to save my daughter.
We rushed her to Dafe Medical Hospital where they refused to admit her.” The parents moved the girl to Gbagada General Hospital where they were advised that she should be transferred to Island General Hospital where the girl is recuperating.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, confirmed the story. She said: “I heard of that wicked act and we have started investigation. I have contacted the commander in charge of MOPOL 22, where the complainant alleged the suspect to be working. “The commander said there was no such name or identity in his squadron.
“Meanwhile, we have sent signals to other police departments and stations to ascertain if this man is actually a serving policeman. That act is inhuman and whoever did that will never go unpunished.”
Sources alleged that several items were found in the man’s room, including children’s wears, shoes, police uniform, and a big ‘Ghana Must Go’ bag believed to be the sack he wanted to put the girl in and take her to an unknown destination. The residents alleged that Augustine, who moved into the house four years ago, suddenly became very rich, with more than four state-ofthe- art cars in his possession.
He was alleged to be a night crawler, who goes out at odd hours. “The man is always carrying Ghana Must Go bags into the vehicle and he has this habit of going out and coming out from 1am to 4 am,” a resident said.
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