Police in Edo State have been criticised for releasing two of three suspects accused of slashing student Safiya Garba’s face with a machete and attempting to kidnap her mother, a pastor, despite the victim spending over N700,000 on the investigation.
The police in Edo State have come under fire after releasing two men accused of using a cutlass to slash the face of Safiya Garba, a student, and attempting to kidnap Pastor Amina Garba, her mother.
FIJ reports that it was about 2 am on Wednesday, June 24, when the three men, identified as Nasiru Ashiru Momodu, Irekpeta Musa and Oyemisi Abdulsalam, broke into No. 1, Immanuel Avenue, along Old Auchi-Bode Road, Ugbekpe-Ekperi, Etsako Central, where the mother and daughter lived.
Upon gaining entry, they pressed Safiya to disclose her mother’s whereabouts, refusing to take money or valuables. When she refused, the men, armed with tasers and machetes, attempted to rape her. She fought them off, but one of them slashed her face, causing a deep cut from her left eye to her upper lip.
Recounting the ordeal on Instagram, Safiya wrote that the assailants fled after her screams for help attracted attention, and the case was subsequently passed to the local vigilante, the Fugar Police Division, and the Edo State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).
Safiya told FIJ that despite spending over N700,000 on the case, the police released two of the three suspects, Irekpeta and Oyemisi, retaining only Nasiru.
“They told us that they could not keep leaving them in custody, but no one charged them to court. We then petitioned the Zone 5 police to rearrest them. Those ones demanded N2 million but later dropped the asking price to N600,000,” Safiya said.
She alleged the two released suspects were the masterminds behind the attack, while Nasiru was merely an accomplice, describing the police’s conduct as comparable to paying ransom to kidnappers.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Edo State Police Command, Eno Ekereuwen, said she would probe the matter after speaking with the victim.
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