Operatives of the Azikiwe Police Division in Port Harcourt have rescued a woman from an angry mob after residents falsely accused her of attempting to abduct a 12-year-old girl along Owo Street in Mile 2, Diobu.
The woman, identified as Maria Kobara, narrowly escaped lynching after a relative of the child’s father raised an alarm, drawing passers by and residents to the scene.
An eyewitness, Nelson Ogiriya, said the incident unfolded when another woman questioned why Kobara was walking with the child and contacted the girl’s father. Although the child’s mother had asked Kobara to take her daughter to a church on Eagle Island, some residents attacked her before the parents could verify the claim.
Police officers arrived in time to rescue Kobara and took everyone involved to the station for questioning.
Confirming the incident, Rivers State Police Command spokesperson SP Grace Iringe Koko said preliminary investigations showed that Kobara knew the child’s family and had the mother’s permission to take the girl to church.
She added that the child’s mother later confirmed the arrangement at the police station, clearing Kobara of any wrongdoing.
Iringe Koko urged residents to report suspicious incidents to the police instead of taking the law into their own hands. She warned that the command would not tolerate mob action or jungle justice and vowed to prosecute anyone involved in such unlawful acts.
