The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has said that the dismissed Inspector of Police, Inspector Edith Uduma, who was recently relieved of her duties in Edo State, was as a result of gross misconduct and criminality.
The Police Force said following her dismissal, she had made numerous claims regarding her innocence and has sought to taint the reputation and integrity of the adjudicating authority, the inspector-general of police in person, and the entire Police Force.
It would be recalled that in a video that went viral on social media, where a Police Sergeant was accused to have raped a female suspect in the station on October 7, 2024, former police Inspector Edith Uduma was the Charge Room Officer (CRO) on duty.
The video emerged online one week after the incident happened and a thorough investigation into the matter conducted by the Edo State Police Command uncovered that the Police Sergeant, identified as Sgt Abraham Uzuobo, had removed the victim from the cell and taken her to an unoccupied office, where he attempted to engage in sexual acts with her.
During the act, Uduma had walked in and recorded the act.
The Force PRO said, “However, instead of immediately making a documented entry on the matter in the Incident Record of the station which was under her charge, and thereafter reporting the incident to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) for disciplinary actions to be initiated 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 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 Police stated that everyone culpable in the case has been sanctioned appropriately as there was no intention to impede justice.
The erring Sergeant has been dismissed and prosecuted and is currently in prison custody as the trial progresses, while Inspector Uduma was also dismissed for her role, while her complicit husband has been reduced to the rank of Corporal.
