The Nigeria Police Force has dismissed Inspector Edith Uduma attached to the Edo State Command for her complicity in the attempted rape of a 17-year-old female suspect by another officer named, Sergent Abraham Uzuobo.
Following viral footage on October 7, Uduma, the Charge Room Officer (CRO) on duty, caught Uzuobo attempting to have canal knowledge of the suspect in an unoccupied office.
Before her dismissal was made public on Wednesday, an investigation by the police found Uduma to have walked into the unoccupied room. Rather than report the matter, the police said Uduma decided to capture the officer and the suspect in a video.
The police said Uduma neither documented entry on the matter nor reported to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) for disciplinary actions against the erring officer.
“She took advantage of the situation to enrich herself by calling her husband, Ibrahim Mohammed, who was also a Police Inspector, both of whom conspired to unlawfully demand the sum of One Million Naira (N1,000,000) from the Sergeant to assist him in concealing the matter.
“However, the Sergeant offered only N45,000 in cash which they collected at that instance and after a few days, contacted the Sergeant to request the same sum of N1,000,000, but the Sergeant refused to comply.
“Dissatisfied by his refusal to follow through with the blackmail, they decided to report the erring officer to the DPO and also simultaneously share the video on social media,” the spokesperson of the police, Muyiwa Adejobi said in a signed statement.
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Consequently, the police dismissed the erring Sergeant while his trial progressed. Also, the rank of Uduma’s husband was reduced to Corporal.
The police added that, “the dismissal of former Police Inspector Edith Uduma was not only justified but necessary, based on thorough investigations that presented irrefutable evidence of her failure to follow standard incident report protocol to immediately document the incident, attempt to conceal an offender for benefit, participation in extortion and manipulating the justice process for personal gain.
“The Nigeria Police Force, under the leadership of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, PhD, NPM., stands firmly against any form of misconduct, particularly in cases of such grave nature involving vulnerable victims.
“The Force maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward corruption, blackmail, and any behaviour that seeks to pervert the cause of justice. The actions of the dismissed officer were in direct violation of the values and standards upheld by the Nigeria Police Force, and other extant laws of Nigeria.”