EDO:

MOTHER, SON, ARRESTED FOR ALLEGED CHILD ABUSE

Operatives of the Benin Zonal Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons have arrested a man, Monday Akpode, 27, for alleged child abuse and defilement.

The Zonal Commander of the agency comprising Edo and Delta States, Mr. Nduka Nwanwenne, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria in Benin on Friday.

Nwanwenne said that the mother of the suspect, Mrs. Patience Walter, had earlier been arrested in connection with the incident.

He said she was arrested for shielding and obstructing officers of the agency in the exercise of lawful inquiry into the matter.

The zonal commander told NAN that the main suspect was a school dropout and apprentice at a welder’s workshop at Igun Spare Parts Market in Benin, the Edo State capital.

Nwanwenne said that on investigation, the operatives learnt that the suspect usually lured the victims to the toilet to rape them individually, and sometimes, more than one at a time.

He said the agency also gathered that the suspect usually warned his victims not to tell anybody, otherwise he would kill them.

However, the cover was blown open when one of the victims fell ill and the report was made to the agency. This led to the arrest of the suspects,” he said.

– NAN