Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
A ransom of N150,000.00 has been placed on a member of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Eddy Ujah, who allegedly absconded after raping a 15-year-old girl in the Otada community of Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State.
Ujah, it was gathered, committed the act sometime last week while the young girl was returning home after going to grind cassava flake commonly known as garri.
The suspect, who is said to be the APGA secretary in Otukpo local government area, was said to have thereafter run away from the area and has not been seen since.
Following the development, a member of House of Representative representing Otukpo/Ohimini federal constituency, Blessing Onuh, and a group “One Idoma Initiative” have promised to reward anyone with useful information that can lead to apprehending the culprit with the sum of N150,000.
According to a social activist, Julie Okoh, who is currently taking care of the rape victim, Representative Onuh has condemned the atrocity and placed a bounty of N50,000 on whoever finds the man, with the One Idoma Initiative also placing a N100,000 bounty on him.
Okoh also indicated that the police commissioner, Inspector General of Police and the Police Officers’ Wives Association (POWA) are all working to ensure that the man is arrested.
The social activist revealed further that the raped girl is on admission at General Hospital, Otukpo, where she is recuperating.
Speaking in a recorded message made available to newsmen on Monday, the victim narrated how she was dragged into the room by the suspect and callously raped.
‘I was returning from the engine where I went to grind garri around 10 am that fateful day when a man named Eddy Ujah grabbed me from the road.
‘Because the road is connected and is near his house, he was coming outside, saw me and grabbed me and kicked me into his room.
‘He locked the door and started beating me. After that, he went to the back door and locked it and switched on his phone music and connected it to the loudspeaker and made it so loud such that when I was shouting nobody could hear me.
‘After beating me, he dragged me to his bedroom and raped me. So, I now told him that if he does not repent that God is going to judge him and God will show him because of what he is doing to others.
‘Before I came out, he called his friend who is outside and told him to check if there is anyone around. So, his friend checked and told him that there was nobody outside. So, he opened the door for me and told me to go home. He warned me that if I tell anybody, he was going to kill me.’