Photo: Detained ex-lawmaker Uguge.
Police arrest ex-lawmaker for allegedly raping wife’s niece
The police have arrested a former member of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Patrick Uguge, for allegedly raping his wife’s 19-year-old niece.
Uguge represented Ogoja State Constituency for two terms between 2007 and 2015.
The Commissioner of Police in the State, Mr Balarabe Sule, who confirmed the arrest and detention of the ex-lawmaker, said the suspect allegedly committed the crime at a hotel in Ogoja on April 21, 2023.
Sule said that the suspect would be charged to court upon the completion of ongoing police investigations into the incident.
Human Rights lawyer, Mr James Ibor of Basic Right Council Initiative (BRCI) while reacting to the incident, decried the alarming rate of rape in the state.
According to Ibor, the alleged victim reported the incident to BRCI office following which they wrote a petition to the police who promptly apprehended the suspect.
He said, “A young girl, 19-years old, walked into our office, and alleged that her daddy, (because she calls the man her daddy, having lived with him for about three years now).
“She (the victim) is a niece to the man’s wife known as Right Honourable Patrick Uguge. Uguge was a two-term House of Assembly member who represented Ogoja state constituency between 2007 to 2015.
“The victim alleged that on the 21st day of April, 2023, the man raped her in a hotel in Ogoja.
“When the girl came to us, we had to verify and confirm her story, we put up a petition to the Police, who promptly investigated it and have taken custody of the man.
“Rape is a felony and the rate of sexual abuse is alarming,so we need to protect the female gender from predators.
“We are in touch with the girl’s parents, who have confirmed that the suspect was still a virgin before she was raped.”
