The Abia State Police Command has arrested a 36-year-old taxi driver,
John Madu, for allegedly raping a female passenger in Umuahia, the
state capital.
The State Police spokesperson, Mr. Ezekiel Onyeke,
said Madu took advantage of the 24-year-old female passenger, who was
travelling from Lagos to Obehie, adding that she was the only passenger
in the taxi.
Onyeke disclosed that the victim had boarded the commercial taxi in
Aba upon arrival from Lagos and was traveling to Obehie, when the
suspect sexually assaulted her.
The PPRO noted that the driver,
midway into the journey, stopped at a lonely place claiming that his cab
had run out of fuel along the Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway, where the
incident occurred despite the plea by the victim that she was a virgin.
Onyeke
averred: “At a spot along the road, the driver pulled off the road,
claiming that he ran out of fuel. The victim, who was not comfortable
with the claims of the suspect, left the vehicle on the excuse that she
wanted to ease herself.
“The driver, who suspected rightly that
the victim wanted to escape, went after her and forcefully dragged the
helpless victim back to the vehicle and raped her despite pleas from the
victim that she be spared as she has vowed to keep her virginity till
marriage.
“The suspect, who fell asleep after the act and did not know when the
victim left the vehicle, was woken up by men of the Operation Safer
Highway team on patrol of Obehie, who wanted to know what he was doing
alone in the vehicle and on the deserted road at that hour of the night
and he told the Police officers that he ran out of fuel.”
Onyeke
said luck however ran out on Madu when the victim, who was hiding in a
nearby bush, on sighting the police patrol team in the area came out and
narrated her ordeal.
“The suspect was promptly arrested and handed over to the Police at Obehie,” he said.
The
police spokesperson added that the victim was later taken to Cottage
Hospital Owaza, for medical attention while Madu, who has confessed to
the crime, will soon be charged to court.