The family of a 15-year-old girl from Ebonyi State has been asked to travel to a police station in Port Harcourt, days after she was found locked in a toilet at the house where she worked.
The girl, identified only as Amaechi, was rescued by operatives of the Abuloma Police Division on Monday, September 14, from a residence in Abuloma, Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The couple she lived and worked for, whose names were withheld, have been arrested.
They allegedly kept her in the toilet for weeks over an offence that has not been disclosed.
It was the landlord who first noticed something was wrong.
The spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police Blessing Agabe, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
"Yes, I can confirm the incident. It was the landlord that noticed that the girl had not been coming out of the house for some time. He suspected something and informed the police," Agabe said.
"So our men got there and rescued the girl from the house where she was locked up in the toilet. She was their house help. We have contacted the family of the girl to come to the station.
"The husband and the wife that she was living with as their house help have been arrested. They are with us and investigation is ongoing."
Police say the teenager will not go back to the household. "We asked the family of the girl to come to the station because the girl will not return to the house she was picked up from," Agabe said.
A source said that during the weeks of confinement, the girl was fed once a day with leftover food, and that her pleas to be let out were ignored.
Another account said her crying drew the attention of neighbours, who raised the alarm and prompted the police to step in.
Asked whether the couple would be arraigned, Agabe said, "Well, for now, investigation is ongoing."
Comments (0)
Please sign in to join the conversation.
Loading comments...