August 02, (THEWILL) – Detained pregnant Imo teenager, Chiamaka Okoro, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), was not impregnated by the personnel of the service, medical reports have shown.
16-year-old Okoro was arrested along with other suspects on March 16, during a raid on the camp of a suspected leader of the unknown gunmen, popularly known as “Ejima”, terrorising Imo state and the neighbouring states in the South East, at Atta Umunnam Njaba local government Imo State.
However, three months after her arrest, Okoro fell sick and was taken to a medical facility, where a laboratory test conducted on her on June 3, showed she was 24 weeks pregnant.
A group, led by one Anyi Kings, had on July 14, raised the alarm that Okoro was four months pregnant and accused operatives of the DSS, whom they alleged were using the suspect alongside other females in custody as sex slaves, as being responsible.
The group had also accused the imo state Governor, Hope Uzodinma, of conniving with the DSS, to incarcerate the suspects and terrorise the people of Imo states and appealed to human rights organisations to help speed the release of Okoro from DSS custody.
Following the alarm raised by the group, accusing the DSS operatives of impregnating the suspect in custody, the Imo state government requested the service to produce the suspect for a medical test. It was gathered upon receiving the request, that the suspect was presented to the state government on July 22, and taken to an independent medical facility,
However, a report from Medicae Manus, a medical facility, located at Awuka Street, Owerri, Imo State, dated July 22, 2022, showed that Okoro was already 27 weeks plus, which is approximately seven months.
The medical report, which was carried out by the Imo State government, implies that Okoro must have been pregnant as of January 2022, even before her arrest on March 14.
A top source close to the matter said, “It is clear from the confirmatory medical report done by a private hospital in Owerri that the girl’s expected date of delivery is October 15, 2022, which is an indication that she had taken in as early as January this year before she was arrested on March 14, 2022.”
Speaking on the development, a security source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Okoro, who was co-habiting with one of the gang leaders, identified as Ejim, now at large, when he was arrested at Njaba, kept mum on her pregnancy until May this year when the baby bump began to show.
The source said, when questioned on the matter, the teenager admitted she was put in the family way by the said Ejim who is on the run over suspected complicity in orchestrated killings and destruction in the state.
When contacted, DSS spokesperson, Dr Peter Afunanya, said it is highly impossible for personnel of the DSS to be involved in such scandalous activities as all personnel of the service, know the standard operations and the implication of going against them.
He further stated that with the revelations from the tests conducted so far by independent organisations other than the DSS, it is obvious that the facts are speaking for itself and the service has been vindicated.
