A commercial driver, Sunday Elo, 42, who allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl, was yesterday remanded in kirikiri Prisons, Lagos, by an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court.
The Magistrate, B. O. Osunsanmi, did not take the plea of the accused but ordered that he be kept behind bars, pending the advice from the state Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
She adjourned the case till June 13 for mention.
The accused, who resides in Olateju area of Mushin, Lagos, is standing trial on a one-count charge of defilement.
The prosecutor, Ezekiel Ayorinde, told the court that the accused committed the offence between March 27 and April 7, at his residence.
He said that the commercial driver raped the 13-year-old girl.
“The accused, who is without wife and children, kept the girl in his house for days and had canal knowledge of her,” he said.
Ayorinde said when the girl’s parents discovered that their daughter was missing; they went in search of her.
“When the parents discovered that their daughter was nowhere to be found, they went to one of her friend’s house.
“The friend took them to the house of the accused and met both of them naked in the bedroom. The girl told her parents that the accused had been sleeping with her since she was 10-years-old.
“The prosecutor said the case was reported to the police and the accused was arrested.
He said that the offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos state, 2015 (Revised).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Section prescribes life in prison for defilement.
