Court remands trader for allegedly def!ling 5-year-old girl in Lagos

An Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court on Friday remanded a 43-year-old man, Friday Okiye, at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre for allegedly def!ling a five-year-old girl.

The defendant, a trader residing in the Ojo area of Lagos, faces a charge of def!lement.

The Chief Magistrate, C.M. Kushanu, did not take the defendant’s plea.

She ordered his remand at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre pending legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

She adjourned the case until September 30 for the DPP’s advice.

The prosecutor, Adegoke Ademigbuji, told the court that the defendant committed the offence at the Trade Fair Market, Aspanda, Ojo, Lagos.

Mr Ademigbuji stated that the defendant lured his neighbour’s five-year-old cousin into his shop under the pretext of giving her money.

He noted that the defendant placed the child on his lap and s3xually assaulted her with his fingers while she cried.

The prosecutor stated that the victim’s cries alerted her uncle, whose shop was near the defendant’s shop.

He noted that the uncle caught the defendant in the act of s3xually assaulting the victim.

The prosecutor stated that the offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

He stated that Section 137 provides for life imprisonment upon conviction.