A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday adjourned the trial of a 53-year-old farmer, Yesiru Onajobi, facing charges bearing on incest, till January 19, 2017. Onajobi is being prosecuted by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters.
The resident of Bogije Street, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, is standing trial on a two-count charge of unlawful carnal knowledge of his teenage daughter. The case, which was billed for continuation of trial on Tuesday, was adjourned to January 19 as the court did not sit.
The accused was re-arraigned on July 8, 2013, before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke,
following the transfer of the first trial judge, Justice Barbara Molokwu from the Lagos Division of the court. He had pleaded not guilty to the charge, and Aneke had remanded him at the Ikoyi Prison ons pending the determination of his bail application.
Following Aneke’s transfer from the Lagos Division, Justice Muslim Hassan now presides
over the matter. In the charge, the accused was alleged to have committed the offence in 2010. The prosecution had told the court that after the death of his wife, the accused sexually assaulted his only daughter several times.
It stated that the accused intimidated and repeatedly had forcible carnal knowledge of
his daughter, who eventually became pregnant for him.
