Thirty six-year-old Aminu Ajao has been
arraigned before an Ebute Meta magistrate’s court for allegedly raping
and impregnating his 14-year-old primary school daughter (name
withheld). Punch Newspaper Reported
Ajao was arraigned on Monday on two counts of rape.
The police said the incident happened on Wale Azeez Street, Ajasa, Lagos State.
The magistrate, Ms S.O Solebo, called
the victim’s mother and her stepmother to court to give an account of
how the event unfolded.
The victim’s mother, who did not disclose her name in court, said she had separated from Ajao and had remarried.
She said, “After our separation, I took
my daughter to live with my mother. But in October, 2013, he went to my
mother’s house and took her from there.
“It was from that time that he started pressuring the girl before sleeping with her and impregnating her.”
Ajao’s new wife, who was nursing a baby, said she was not aware of the incident until the matter got to the police.
“It was in October last year that he
brought the girl to be staying with us. While I slept in the room, she
stayed in the parlour and I didn’t know anything was going on,” she
said.
The magistrate became angry when the
victim’s mother told the court she had taken her daughter back to the
grandmother, adding, “My sisters will take care of her ante-natal.”
Solebo said, “You sound so
irresponsible. She is your own child and you are saying your sisters
will take her for ante-natal care at her grandmother’s place. If they
had exercised due diligence and care, maybe she would not have been
taken away by her father.”
The magistrate thereafter called the Office of the Public Defender for custody of the girl.
“She is 14 and she is pregnant. Her body
is not developed to carry the pregnancy. I am very interested in how
the girl fares,” she added.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Richard
Odige told the court that the crime was punishable under sections
135(1)(2) and 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.
Odige thereafter applied that the matter be transferred to the Directorate of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
However, the defence counsel, Ola Ogunbiyi, pleaded with the court to admit Ajao to bail in liberal terms.
Ogunbiyi said Ajao had emaciated because he had been in detention for a long time.
Reacting, Solebo said, “The punishment
for the offence is life imprisonment. Already, a medical report from the
Lagos State University Teaching Hospital has indicated that she was
pregnant as of November, 2013. The police, who investigated the matter
said she was pregnant for her father. So, what do you want me to do?
“In view of Section 115(2) and in view
of the offence and the nature of the punishment, bail is hereby refused
the defendant. The defendant is to be remanded in prison custody pending
legal advice from the DPP.”
The matter was adjourned till February 19, 2014.
wonders shal neva cease
ReplyDelete