A 46-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly defiling an eight-year-old girl in Ibusa, in the Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the incident occurred in the early hours of Monday.
The suspect, who was said to be a gateman attached to an uncompleted building close to the residence of the victim, reportedly lured her into the building on the pretext of sending her on an errand.
“We discovered that he tied the hands of his victim and took her inside the building where he defiled her.
“Her parents were looking for her, so they alerted people in the area. Then someone said she saw her going into the uncompleted building.
“We searched the building and caught him in the act,” a community source said.
It was gathered that the parents of the victim, who are pastors, refused to press charges, saying their daughter could be stigmatised.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, confirmed the incident on Tuesday.
“I am very busy now, I will get back to you on the suspect’s identity,” she said.
In a related incident, an Ado Ekiti Chief Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday remanded a 38-year-old man, Oladimeji Ayodele, in a correctional centre for allegedly defiling a 14-year-old girl.
The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Olanike Adegoke, adjourned the case till September 7, 2020 for mention.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Johnson Okunade, said the defendant committed the offence on August 8, 2020, in Ado-Ekiti.
Okunade said, “The defendant took the girl to a school and defiled her. The offence contravenes Section 2 (2) of the Ekiti State Gender-Based Violence Prohibited Law 2019.”
The prosecutor urged the court to remand him pending legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
The court did not take the plea of the defendant.
The chief magistrate also sentenced a 19-year-old man, John Arowosegbe, to six months’ imprisonment for burglary and stealing.