An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in Lagos on Thursday remanded a 22-year-old trader, Moses Austine, at Kirikiri prisons for allegedly defiling a seven-year-old girl.
Magistrate Mrs B.O. Osunsanmi, refused to take the plea of the accused and ordered that he should be kept behind bars pending advice from the State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Austine, who resides at Itire, Lagos, is being tried for defilement. The Police prosecutor, ASP Ezekiel Ayorinde, told the court that the accused committed the offence on June 1 at his residence.
He alleged that the accused unlawfully had canal knowledge of the girl when he discovered that her mother left for work.
“The accused called the girl inside his room under the pretext of sending her on an errand.
“When the girl entered his room, he bolted his door and inserted his sex organ into her private parts and defiled her.
“The mother of the girl came back from work and saw her daughter crying and she asked her what happened and she told her what the accused did to her.
“The mother reported the case to the police and the accused was arrested,” the prosecutor said.
The offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015(Revised), which prescribes life imprisonment for defilement.
The case was adjourned until July 9 for mention.