A 7-year-old girl (name withheld) is undergoing series of medical tests following the illicit sex a 45-year-old man, Sunday Jacob, had with her.
Mr. Jacob was arrested on June 6th for allegedly defiling the victim at different occasions at his number 4, Benson Otile Street, Ajangbadi, a Lagos suburb.
He was alleged to have defiled the victim, who stayed briefly with with her grandmother a few street away, everytime she went to the suspect's premises to fetch water from a well.
Mr. Jacob allegedly lured the victim into his one-room apartment with N20, and had sex with her when nobody was watching. However, luck ran out on him when the victim began to experience series of stomach aches. When queried by her mother, who is an itinerant trader, she confessed that Mr. Jacob had been defiling her.
Frank Mba, the Lagos State Police spokesperson, said clinical test confirmed that the victim has been defiled.
"On June 6th 2010, there was a report at the Ilemba Hausa Police Station, about 10.30pm, that one Theresa Moses, of Orisan Street, Iyana-Agbede, Ajangbadi, reported that that one Sunday Jacob, a 45-year-old man of number 4, Benson Otile Street, Ajangbadi, was involved in a series of acts amounting to defilement of her 7 years old daughter. The police swung into action, carried out a meticulous investigation, and submitted the necessary documents to the Badagry Hospital.
"The little girl was tested and the medical report said her hymen is not intact, and there is foul odour from her virgina. The police will still proceed with more clinical and forensic investigation to know if the foul odour is a presence of infection, and how badly this little girl has been injured."
The confession
Mr. Jacob admitted to "fingering" the victim. He said loneliness led him to defile the girl. The suspect, a widower and father of an 18-year-old lady, said he has been lonely since his wife died three years ago and his daughter left him for the village.
"I be mechanic for Agboju bus stop. Any time wey this girl and her sisters come my compound come fetch water, I go dey eye her. When nobody dey look, I come tell her make she come my room come collect N20 make she take buy biscuit. When she enter my room, I go lay down for bed come carry her for my lap. I go come use my finger put am for her virgina. I no dey put my penis inside her; na only finger I dey use. I don do this thing like four times and na on Sunday, around say 8 ‘o'clock, when she come fetch water na him I go do this thing to her. I regret wetin I do because e no good."
Mr. Mba said the suspect committed an offence punishable under Section 218 of the Criminal Code.
"This act is not only an offence, but indeed, morally reprehensible and section 218 of the Criminal Code states that "any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 13 years is guilty of a felony and liable to imprisonment for life.
"Also, section 218 states that any person who attempts to have carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 13 is guilty of a felony and liable to 14 years imprisonment. It is a serious offence and the police will investigate and prosecute the suspect accordingly."
