Court remands man, 32, for defiling, assaulting 12-year-old girl

A Warri South Magistrate’s court in Delta State has remanded a 32 year-old man, Joseph Obiajulu, at the Federal Prisons, Okere, for allegedly defiling and assaulting a minor.
Magistrate SOS Yalaju ordered the remand of the accused, while awaiting legal advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecution.
The accused, a father of three, was arraigned on a two-count charge of defilement and assault on a 12-year old girl (names withheld) under his care.
The girl, a primary four pupil of Isibowe Primary School, Warri, lived with the suspect at Ekurede Urhobo in Warri South.
The Investigating Police Officer, Insp. Olajide Christian, who held brief for Sergeant Victor Onyema, told the court that the accused had been having carnal knowledge of the minor and also inflicted injuries on her body.
He said that the suspect was apprehended on December 4 at his shop in Ekorede Urhobo.
“The accused has been having carnal knowledge of the girl since September 2016 till December 3, 2017 and also inflicted injuries on her,” he told the court.
The IPO said both offences, defilement and assault causing occasional harms, were punishable under Sections 218 and 355, respectively, of the Criminal Code, Cap C21, Vol. 1 Laws of Delta. Nigeria 2006.
The young victim told our correspondent outside the courtroom that the accused tied her hands behind with rope and flogged her stomach and chest over a missing N1500.
She alleged that she had lost count of the number of times the accused had slept with her.
She said, “I have been living with my mother’s sister and her husband since my mother died last year after a brief sickness in his house.
“After the death of my mother, the man said I should be living with them and since then he has been sleeping with me.
“He inflicted injuries on me with water cane and also rub my body with grounded pepper over a missing N1500 that was later found.
“It was the intervention of my school aunties that led to the arrest of my aunt’s husband. My aunt noticed that I was always sleeping in class and one day called me and that was when I narrated everything to her.”
The case has been adjourned till January 31, 2018 for mention.
The school teacher, who spoke to our correspondent under strict anonymity, said when she noticed the little girl’s behaviour, she had to draw her closer to inquire what was happening.
She said it was after much persuasion that the girl decided to open up to her, adding that when she heard what the little girl was passing through, she decided to inform the police who later apprehended the suspect.
The teacher said, “I always noticed that she was always sleeping in class until one day I gave them class work. When it was her turn to read in the class, instead of talking she burst into tears. That was when I knew something was wrong with her.
“I then draw her closer and assured her that she should not be afraid. I had to pet her until she decided to tell me everything that was going on in her
home.
“She told me how her aunt’s husband had been sleeping with her since last year. When I saw the wounds the man inflicted on her, I decided to take the matter to the police.
“I am a mother and I cannot stand it when a man treats my daughter like this. Things like these are happening all around us and people have been sweeping them under the carpet. But I told myself that if allowed this to go, I would never forgive myself.”