The Enugu State Police Command has announced the arrest and arraignment of a masquerader for allegedly assaulting a woman in the Nsukka area of the state.
A statement by the command’s spokesman, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, on Thursday said the masquerader was intercepted and arrested on May 12, 2024, around 3.45 p.m. by operatives of the Nsukka Sector of the Command’s Anti-Cultism Tactical Squad.
According to Ndukwe, the masquerader popularly known as Oriokpa was sighted physically assaulting a female victim at Ugwuoye Junction, Nsukka when the operatives arrested it.
Ndukwe noted that the masquerader, later identified as Ugwuoke Ebube, aged 22, had been arraigned in court on Wednesday in Nsukka even as he said the court later granted him bail.
Giving a detailed explanation, Ndukwe said that the investigation carried out by the command into the case indicated that the suspect was part of a group of masqueraders that similarly assaulted a female nurse riding a motorcycle, as captured in a viral video in April 2024.
“He was today, May 22, 2024, arraigned in the Nsukka Magistrate Court of Enugu State, Nigeria, but was granted bail by the court.”
The police spokesman, however, quoted the state Commissioner of Police, Kanayo Uzuegbu, to have condemned the act, while warning those intending to hide under the guise of culturally celebrating masqueraders to commit such a criminal act of assaulting fellow citizens to desist forthwith.
He stressed that the command would henceforth not hesitate to bring anyone found wanting to book, just as in the case at hand.
