A
former police officer who turned pastor has been nabbed after being
accused of luring a little girl into an uncompleted building to r*pe
her.
Christopher Archibong
Christopher Archibong, a 55 year-old retired police Deputy
Superintendent of Police, was on Friday remanded in prison custody in
Calabar for allegedly r*ping a nine year-old girl (identity withheld.)
According to Punch Metro, Archibong, who is also the General
Overseer of the Family Prayers Network Centre in Calabar, was remanded
by Chief Magistrate in charge of Magistrate Court 7 in Calabar, Mrs.
Ochinke, pending his formal arraignment in the family court or High
Court by the state Ministry of Justice.
The state Police Command had on Thursday paraded Archibong
alongside 62 other criminal suspects at the command’s headquarters in
Calabar for defiling the nine year-old girl.
State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hafiz Inuwa, said the retired traffic warden committed the crime on May 31, 2017 in Calabar.
Inuwa explained that the suspect lured the victim into his
uncompleted building to go and park woods for him, adding that Archibong
threatened to kill the little girl when she initially resisted him.
He said, “On May 31, 2017, one traffic warden officer, who retired as a DSP, Mr. Christopher Archibong, 55, defiled a nine year-old girl.
“On June 5, 2017, when she could no longer bear it, she
informed her mother of the incident and the case was reported to the
police on June 7, 2017. Upon his arrest, the suspect confessed to the
crime and he will be charged to court soon.”
But in an interview with Southern City News on Thursday during the
parade, Archibong denied the allegation, saying it was a set up.
He said, “I was set up by my close neighbours who got jealous
of me after I bought a piece of land to build my house. I retired as a
DSP in February this year; I am a law-abiding citizen of Nigeria. I did
not rape the girl as it is said,” he said.
When asked why he confessed to committing the crime in his statement, Archibong simply said, “I was under pressure, so, I had to admit.”
Counsel for the victim and Executive Secretary of Basic Rights
Counsel Initiative, Mr. James Ibor, alleged the retired police traffic
officer had tried to compromise the investigation process.
He said, “Many attempts to compromise the investigation were
thwarted by the Basic Rights Counsel Initiative with the support of the
wife of the Cross River Governor, Dr. Linda Ayade.”
But a worshipper in the suspect’s church, who craved anonymity, said their spiritual leader would soon be vindicated.
She said, “Our man of God is going through persecution and very
soon God will put all his detractors to shame because he will receive
deliverance from what the devil wants to do to this ministry.”
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