Police operatives in Port Harcourt have rescued a woman from a mob after she was falsely accused of stealing and abducting a 12-year-old girl in Rivers State.
The incident occurred on Saturday, June 13, along Owo Street in Mile 2, Diobu, Port Harcourt. According to eyewitness accounts, the woman identified as Maria Kobara was taking the child to church when another woman stopped her and demanded to know her relationship with the girl.
Maria explained that the child’s mother had asked her to take the girl to a church on Eagle Island.
The woman who stopped them called the child’s father, who then contacted his wife to confirm if she had sent their daughter with anyone.
The mother confirmed that Maria was acting on her instruction. However, before the confirmation came through, some residents had already started beating her and accusing her of child theft.
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Operatives of the Azikiwe Police Division intervened quickly and rescued Maria from the mob. Everyone involved was taken to the station for questioning.
The Rivers State Police Command later confirmed that preliminary investigations showed the alarm was raised by a relative of the child’s father, which attracted passers-by and residents to the scene.
At the station, the child’s mother confirmed that Maria was not a kidnapper. She said Maria was on her way to clean a branch of their church on Eagle Island when she was intercepted and falsely accused.
The police spokesperson urged residents to report suspected incidents to the police instead of resorting to jungle justice. She warned that mob action and extrajudicial killings would not be tolerated and that anyone involved in such acts would face the full weight of the law.
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