Operatives of the Azikiwe Police Division in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, have rescued a woman identified as Maria Kobara from a mob after she was accused of stealing and abducting a 12-year-old girl along Owo Street in Mile 2, Diobu, Port Harcourt.

An eyewitness, Mr. Nelson Ogiriya, who spoke to our correspondent, said he encountered a crowd gathered on Owo Street and decided to find out what happened.

Ogiriya said that but for the quick intervention of the police on that fateful day (Saturday, June 13), the woman would have been lynched.

He stated: “As I was passing, I saw a crowd on Owo Street, so I tried to find out what was happening. I discovered that a woman was taking a 12-year-old girl to church when another woman stopped her and asked who the child was to her.

“The woman explained that the girl’s mother had asked her to take the child to a church on Eagle Island. However, the woman who stopped them called the child’s father, who in turn contacted his wife to confirm whether she had given their daughter to anyone to take to church.

“The mother confirmed that she had indeed sent the child with the woman, but before the confirmation came, some people had already started beating her and accusing her of stealing the child. It was in the course of the assault that the police arrived and took everyone involved to the station.”

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Rivers State Police Command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko (for the command), confirmed that operatives attached to the Azikiwe Police Division rescued the woman from the mob.

The police spokesperson said preliminary investigations revealed that a relative of the father of the 12-year-old girl raised an alarm, which attracted passers-by and residents to the scene.

“The mob ignored all explanations made by the woman that she knew the child’s mother and that the mother was aware of their movement.

“The woman was being physically assaulted by the mob, who accused her of attempting to steal the child when our officers arrived and rescued her.

“At the station, the child’s mother confirmed that the woman was not a child thief as speculated. Rather, she was on her way to clean a branch of their church on Eagle Island in Port Harcourt when she was intercepted and falsely accused,” the police spokesperson stated.

She urged residents to report suspected incidents to the police rather than resorting to extrajudicial actions.

The police image maker warned against mob action and jungle justice, stressing that such acts would not be tolerated under any guise by the command.

She added that anyone or group of persons involved in such unlawful acts would be made to face the full weight of the law.