80-Year-Old Traditional Cabinet Member Suspended for Allegedly Defiling a 10-Year-Old Girl in Anambra

Chief Vincent Okoye, 80, and a member of the Umueri Traditional Cabinet has been suspended for allegedly having a carnal knowledge of a 10-year-old girl at Obinetiti village, Umueri in Anambra East local government area of Anambra.

AnambraDaily gathered that the suspect was standing trial at the Otuocha Chief Magistrates’ Court following his arrest on April 26, 2022 for allegedly having a carnal knowledge of the minor who was sent to run an errand for him at a construction site.

Inspector Richard Okoti, the Resident Prosecutor who filed the case confirmed that the suspect was arraigned at Otuocha Chief Magistrates’ Court on April 29, where he pleaded not guilty and was subsequently granted bail on health grounds.

Okoti spoke to our correspondent shortly after he submitted his report on the case on June 16 before the Chief Magistrate at Otuocha, adjourned the case indefinitely.
Although the suspect didn’t appear in court, as the prosecution filed necessary documents for his prosecution, the traditional ruler of Umueri, (His Royal Majesty) Igwe Sir Benneth Izuchukwu Emeka (JP), who attended the session distanced the traditional stool of the Okebo kingdom from the rape saga.

Igwe Emeka, the Oke-ebo II of Umueri, disclosed that the suspect had been suspended from the royal cabinet as the alleged crime was a taboo and embarrassing to the community.

“The man in question is a member of my cabinet, he is my financial secretary and immediately the matter was reported, we suspended him and he can never come back to the cabinet again.

“The matter has been taken to court and that shows that the community does not condone such crime. We have also given the girl scholarship to show our concern and protect her future. It could have been anybody’s child.

“I’m advising parents, especially mothers to be cautious and take responsibility for the safety and security of their children,” he said.

The All Nations Arise and Manifest Initiative (ANAM), a human rights watchdog, told AnambraDaily that the suspect, a contractor took advantage of his closeness to the victim’s mother to defile her.

“He was a friend of the girl’s mother and usually send her on errands”, the National President of ANAM, Mrs Tessy Aniesi-Ngoesina said.

According to her, it took the intervention of construction workers at that site to burst the suspected pedophile.

She said:
“Workers at the building site where the suspect is supervising said they noticed that each time the girl comes to run errands for him, he takes her to a completed building at the site and lock the door.

“So, on April 26, they saw her come out of the building crying. When they called her aside and asked why she was crying, the girl opened up that the suspect usually had sex with her whenever her mother ask her to run errands for him at the site.

“During interrogation, the girl said she could not report the crime to her mother or anyone because the man threatened to kill her, ” reported Aniesi.

According to her, the man’s nemesis eventually caught up with him after the workers confronted him and later reported the matter to the vigilante group, the traditional ruler and the Umuada of Umueri community, and eventually ANAM took up the matter.

“The crime was reported at the Police Area Command, Otuocha Division, on April 26 and the perpetrator was arrested. The victim was also taken to New life Hospital, Umueri, where it was confirmed that she was defiled”, she adds.

Aniesi further said that the ANAM group, would follow up the matter and mobilise support to ensure justice for the victim. “We are happy that the traditional ruler of the town and other people are against what this man did. We as a group that fights injustice will follow up with this case to ensure that justice is done. We hope that by the time this man is punished for his crime, it will send a strong message to others that you cannot destroy a young girl’s life and go free.

“We are equally using this opportunity to advise parents to always be careful with the kind of people they expose their children, especially girl child to. You can see that this man took advantage of his closeness with the mother to defile her. Imagine, a man who is old enough to be her grand father doing this to her. Anyone who committed this kind of atrocity must not be allowed to go free. That is why we are involved in this case. And we will not rest until justice is done”, she stressed.