A police inspector, Eze Akpoelu, has been arrested for allegedly throwing a burning stove on a neighbour, Jane Amos, after she reportedly turned down his request for a relationship at Rumuokwuta, in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, who confirmed the officer’s arrest said, “He (Akpoelu) has been arrested. We have commenced investigation and if he is found culpable, he will be punished.”
According to PUNCH, Amos, who spoke from her hospital bed, said the inspector, who resided in the same compound with her, attacked her on Wednesday.
She said, “This morning (Wednesday), I went to the bathroom to bathe my niece for school and Inspector Eze Akpoelu was in the bathroom, bathing. So, I went to bathe her outside.
“He came out and said I was challenging him. He said he had warned that nobody should pour water outside. I did not make any comment. I took my niece into the bathroom. He said I was stupid and I did not have respect.
“Because he had asked me out for friendship and I refused, since then he had been hostile and I kept avoiding him.
“After I finished bathing my niece and went inside, he started saying that I was talking to him and that he would make me bleed. I said if he made me bleed, God in heaven would also make him bleed.
“Later, I came out to put my pot down from the stove because the food I was cooking was almost done. When I opened my door, I saw him by my door. He seized me and held me tight by my neck. He poured what I was cooking away, carried the burning stove and poured it on me.”
A rights group, Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, called for a thorough investigation into the incident.
A statement by the group’s lawyer, Mr Festus Bonwin, said justice must be done in the matter.