The police in Lagos have arrested a 45-year-old man, Aderemi Adelaja, for allegedly defiling his 17-year-old daughter.
Adelaja, a driver, reportedly ordered his daughter to remove her clothes as he forcibly inserted his finger in her private parts. He was said to have consequently had canal knowledge of the teenager.
Learnt that the incident occurred around 2am on November 2, 2019 in their apartment in the Afariogun area of Oshodi, Lagos.
Adelaja, who lost his wife about four years ago, live with his six children – three of whom are females.
While the alleged incest went on, a security guard in the community was alarmed by the girl’s scream and barged into the apartment to rescue the victim.
The guard and some landlords were said to have reported the case to the police, leading to Adelaja’s arrest.
The girl told the police that she was asleep that night when her father woke her up and asked her why she returned home late.
She said the father thereafter ordered her to remove her clothes and started molesting her.
She stated, “That night, my father woke me up and asked me where I had gone to. I told him I did not go anywhere. He ordered me to remove my clothes and sleep on the bed. He then inserted one of his fingers into my private parts and later lay on top of me.
“I started shouting and a security man came around and shouted his name which made him to leave me. He went out to know who was calling him. That was the second time he would insert his finger in my private parts.”
But Adelaja denied the sexual harassment, saying he only wanted to verify if his daughter was a virgin or not.
He said someone had hinted him that his daughter was going out with a man, adding that he checked her private parts to find out if she had been having sex.
He said, “I got married when I was 27 but my wife died four years ago. We have six children – three males and three females. The girl is my third child. Since the death of my wife, I have not remarried.
“On November 2, around 11.30pm, I was in the room with my children and asked her (the victim) to undress herself. She removed her clothes and I was beating her with a belt. In the process, I heard a voice through the window calling my name. I told the man (the security guard) to mind his business and that I was trying to correct her.
“I did not have canal knowledge of her. Someone told me he was going out with an Igbo man and I cautioned her several times. There was no power supply that night. I used the light of my phone and my finger to examine her private parts. I never did such to her before. I tried to check whether someone had made love with her before or not.”
The police consequently charged Adelaja with defilement and he was arraigned before an Ikeja magistrates’ court in Ogba, Lagos.
The police prosecutor, ASP Benson Emuehi, told the court that the offence contravened sections 135, 137 and 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The charge sheet read, “That you, Aderemi Adelaja, on November 2, 2019, at 11.44pm, at Afariogun, Oshodi, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did unlawfully and indecently deal with your daughter, 17, by forcefully removing her clothes and pants.
“That you, Aderemi Adelaja, on the same date, time and place, in the aforementioned magisterial district, did unlawfully engage your daughter in a sexual activity by inserting your finger into her private parts.
“That you, Aderemi Adelaja, did defile your daughter by unlawfully having canal knowledge of her by penetration, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”
The presiding Chief Magistrate, Mrs O. Sule-Amzat, did not take the plea of the defendant.
The magistrate ruled that he should be remanded in prison custody while the case file should be forwarded to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for legal advice.
The matter was adjourned till February 23, 2020.
