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Itode Akari
PORT HARCOURT – Operatives of the Azikiwe Police Division in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Saturday, June 13, 2026, averted the lynching of a woman identified as Maria Kobara after she was falsely accused of attempting to steal and abduct a 12-year-old girl at Owo Street, Mile 2, Diobu.
An eyewitness, Mr. Nelson Ogiriya, told our correspondent that the incident stemmed from a misunderstanding that quickly escalated into mob action before police intervention.
Ogiriya explained that Kobara was taking the 12-year-old girl to a church on Eagle Island at the request of the child’s mother when another woman confronted her and demanded to know her relationship with the child.
He said, “As I was passing, I saw a crowd gathered on Owo Street and decided 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 then contacted his wife to verify the claim.
“The mother confirmed that she had indeed asked the woman to take her daughter to church, but before that confirmation came, some people had already descended on her, accusing her of trying to steal the child.
“It was while the assault was ongoing that police officers arrived at the scene, rescued the woman and took all those involved to the station,” Ogiriya said.
The timely intervention of the police prevented what could have resulted in a tragic case of mob justice, as investigations later showed that the allegation against the woman was unfounded.
When contacted, the spokesperson of the Rivers State Police Command, Blessing Agabe, confirmed that operatives attached to the Azikiwe Police Division rescued the woman from the mob.
The police spokesperson said preliminary investigations revealed that the incident was triggered when a relative of the 12-year-old girl’s father raised an alarm, attracting passers-by and residents to the scene.
According to her, the alarm led some members of the public to wrongly suspect the woman of attempting to steal the child, resulting in the mob action before police officers intervened and brought the situation under control.
Agabe said, “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 when she was intercepted and falsely accused.”
She urged residents to report suspected incidents to the police rather than resorting to extrajudicial actions.
ASP Agabe further warned residents against mob action and jungle justice, stressing that such acts would not be tolerated under any guise by the command, adding that perpetrators would face the full weight of the law.
