The Osun State Police Command has taken into custody an Islamic cleric, identified as Kadiri, over allegations of defiling an eight-year-old girl in Ede, Osun State.
The arrest led to unrest in the community, as an angry mob attempted to attack the suspect shortly after he was taken into custody.
According to police spokesperson Abiodun Ojelabi, operatives were quickly deployed to the Babasanya-Araka area of Ede after the incident was reported.
“The matter was reported, and we deployed operatives to the scene. When our men got to the scene, the Amotekun men who arrested him handed him over to us,” Ojelabi said.
The suspect, an Imam of a mosque and operator of an Arabic school in the area, is currently in police custody. “Further investigation is being done by the police,” said Idowu Yusuf, Amotekun spokesperson.
Details of the incident, as gathered from a local resident, revealed that the victim had gone missing for several hours before she was eventually found bleeding.
This prompted her mother to question her about what had happened, leading to the disclosure of the alleged assault.
Meanwhile, the police have confirmed that the suspect remains in custody and that the case will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) upon completion of the preliminary investigation at the divisional level.
