A dismissed Police officer from Cross River State has committed suicide after being accused of defiling and infecting a nine-year-old girl, and five others, with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Acan cording to investigation by the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), the policeman was dismissed from the force for alleged gross misconduct and detained in a prison in Port Harcourt, and relocated to Bayelsa State.

Community sources said the incident, which has provoked anger among indigenes of Kolokuma/Opokuma area of the state, led to a search for the officer, but he escaped towards Trofani community in Sagbama Local Government Area, where he was reported to have committed suicide.

A source, who preferred not to be named, revealed that the six victims included a female lover, who had moved to Delta State after a test proved she was HIV positive.
“Investigation showed that the man escaped from a prison in Port Harcourt sometime last year and embarked on a defilement spree. More than five underage persons were reportedly defiled and infected with HIV,” the source stated.

“The nine-year-old girl, names withheld, was defiled recently. The victim told her mother about the act, but the mother refused to listen to her. However, when the girl could not walk properly and was sickly, the mother took her for a laboratory test and discovered that she had not only been defiled but was also HIV positive.

“We call on the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Health and the FIDA to come to the aid of the victims. They need treatment.” Contacted on the development, spokesman of the Bayelsa Police Command, Asinim Butswat, said though he had heard about the incident, it had not been “officially reported to the command”.