Inspector Edith Uduma, a former Edo State police officer, reportedly threatened to kill herself and her children after being fired for reporting an alleged rape involving a colleague.
She accused the state police command of unfairly dismissing her, claiming the public had not heard her side of the tale.
Uduma was fired after a viral video she recorded in October revealed another officer, Sergeant Abraham, in a compromising position with a 17-year-old girl at a police station in Edo State’s South Ibie district.
The policeman was seen quickly donning his trousers and questioning Edith’s video recording. The girl was spotted lying on a chair in the room.
The police confirmed that both officers were later discharged following an orderly room trial.
The Edo State Police Command, in a statement made in November by its Public Relations Officer, Moses Yamu, claimed that Uduma plotted with her husband, Inspector Ibrahim Mohammed, to extort N1 million from Abraham in order to cover up the crime.
According to the authorities, the footage leaked online after Abraham reportedly offered N45,000 instead.
The command said, “That, contrary to reports from certain quarters, the said female police officer, AP/no 228719, Insp. Edith Uduma, was the Charge Room Officer on October 7, 2024, the night F/No. 504694, Sgt. Abraham, allegedly raped a female suspect in the station.
“The female officer, instead of reporting the incident to the Divisional Police Officer or the Incident Duty Officer as the case may be, for disciplinary actions to be initiated against the erring officer, took advantage of the situation to enrich herself by calling her husband, AP No. 228652, Insp. Ibrahim Mohammed, whom she conspired with to unlawfully demand the sum of N1m from the sergeant to assist him in concealing the matter.
“Following these events, an orderly room trial was initiated against all the officers, which led to the dismissal of Sgt. Abraham and Insp. Edith Uduma.”
Uduma’s husband was likewise demoted to the rank of sergeant.
However, in an interview on Saturday, Uduma refuted the claims, claiming she never extorted money and was not given a fair hearing.
She claimed that her firing was planned because she lacked influential connections.
Uduma, who treated suicide if she did not receive justice, stated, “What the Edo Command is stating is not what happened. They know I don’t have the rank or support to fight back,” Uduma explained.
She further disclosed that the Force Headquarters in Abuja was still looking into the case, only for the Edo command to discharge her abruptly.
“I want justice. My dismissal is unjust,” she said tearfully.
She revealed that her husband, who was also sanctioned, had no connection to the matter.
“He (my husband) used to bring something for me to eat. He brought food that time to the station.
“If Nigerians refuse to listen to me—because my husband has been in detention and they have been looking for me to arrest me, to charge me to court—if Nigeria refuses to listen to me, I will just poison all my children and myself. I will die. Because I’m just stranded like this,” she said, noting she had been in hiding and had not seen her children in a long time due to the incident.
She claimed that the DPO at the station pushed her to approach Sergeant Ibrahim for the N1M for negotiation after the sergeant apparently vanished during the incident, noting that this was done to entice the suspect to show up.
According to her, she is startled that the DPO and other cops reportedly turned the case against her.
A human rights group, Take It Back Movement, petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, on Friday over what it described as the unjust dismissal of a female police officer and a reduction in rank of her husband for reporting the alleged rape case.
“We humbly submit this petition to seek your intervention in the gross injustice perpetrated against Mrs Edith Uduma and her husband (Mohamed Ibrahim) with Force No.: AP/NO 228652 by the Edo State Police Command.
“Her dismissal from the Nigeria Police Force and the deduction of the rank of her husband from Inspector to CPL were unjust, and we request a thorough review of her case,” the petition read in part.
“Instead of commending her actions, she was dismissed, and her husband, Inspector Ibrahim Muhammad, was arrested and detained,” the group added, adding that the command’s action was capable of “hindering investigations and protecting the perpetrator of the rape.”
