A 24-year-old man, Jacob Ekene, has been remanded at 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 arraigned on three counts of conspiracy, rape, and inflicting bodily harm before the Magistrates’ Court sitting in Yaba, Lagos State.
Ekene was said to have carried out the act with his friend, Olamilekan Saidi. The incident took place after the victim’s aunt who helped the suspect register for his National Identification Number card, told him to come to her house to pick it up.
Upon getting to the house, the suspect found the minor alone. He took advantage of her aunt’s absence to allegedly rape the 14-year-old girl and thereafter, threatened to kill her if she told anyone about what happened.
Since defiling the minor, Ekene has reportedly been visiting the house and sometimes in the company of one of his friends, Saidi, who was also accused of having carnal knowledge of the minor.
The pregnancy was uncovered after the victim’s aunt started noticing some changes in her body. When questioned, she disclosed that Ekene has been having carnal knowledge of her and also threatened to kill her with a knife if she told anyone about it.
The girl’s aunt informed the police and took her to a nearby hospital where a pregnancy test conducted on the minor revealed that she was already pregnant.
Ekene was arrested but his accomplice, Saidi, fled after getting wind of the information that policemen were on his trail.
The charge against Ekene read;
“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. When the Magistrate requested to see the teenager, he was told that she was sent back to her parents in Imo State because of what happened.
Nwaka ordered the remand of the defendant to the Ikoyi Correctional Center for 30 days pending legal advice from the DPP and adjourned the case till May 25, 2023.