A Lagos Magistrates’ Court sitting in Yaba, has remanded a 24-year-old man, Jacob Ekene, to the Ikoyi Correctional Center for allegedly defiling and impregnating a 14-year-old girl at her aunt’s residence in the Amuwo Odofin, Lagos.
Ekene was remanded by Magistrate P. E. Nwaka after being charged with three counts of conspiracy, rape, and inflicting bodily harm.
According to reports, Ekene and his friend Olamilekan Saidi committed the act.
Based on information obtained, the defendant met the victim’s aunt at her office, where she assisted him in getting his National Identification Number card and instructed him to pick up the card three days later at her home.
Ekene only encountered the victim at home on the day he went to see the victim’s aunt; when he inquired about the aunt, the victim informed him that she had not yet returned from work.
The 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by Ekene while the woman was away, and he then threatened to murder her if she told anyone what had happened.
Ekene had reportedly been visiting the house since the incident, often in the company of one of his buddies, Saidi, who was also accused of having carnal knowledge of the juvenile.
When the girl’s aunt saw physical changes, she questioned her, and it was learned that the victim accused Ekene of having carnal knowledge of her and threatened to kill her with a knife if she told anybody.
The aunt, upset by the revelation, called the police and escorted the minor to a local hospital, where a pregnancy test confirmed the aunt’s worst fears.
The police apprehended Ekene during their investigation, but Saidi managed to elude capture by learning that law enforcement was on his trail.
After completing their investigation, the police arrested and charged Ekene with the heinous act.
Prosecutor Thomas Nurudeen argued that the defendants’ actions were in violation of Criminal Code sections 411, 137, and 245 of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2015.
The charge read in part, “That you, Jacob Ekene and one Olamilekan Saidi, who is still at large, on October 17, 2022, around 3.30 pm, in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did conspire amongst yourselves to commit felony to wit defilement and unlawful grievous bodily harm and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2015.”
The defendant’s plea was however not taken.
The Magistrate asked to meet the victim but was told she had been sent to her parents in Imo State because of what had happened.
Nwaka remanded the defendant to the Ikoyi Correctional Centre for 30 days for legal advice from the DPP and continued the case until May 25, 2023.
