Lagos State government is prosecuting a surrogate father, Bernard Uzi, for allegedly defiling his nine-year-old daughter.
The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA) stated on Tuesday that police arrested Uzi on Feb. 8 and was arraigned before a magistrate’s court on Feb. 9.
DSVA’s spokesperson, Mrs Joke Ladenegan-Ogini stated that the child had earlier told her school teacher that her father had been having canal knowledge of her.
“The agency received the report of alleged defilement of a nine-year-old girl by Uzi, her guardian.
“It was reported that the Primary Five pupil confided in her class teacher that her guardian had been having sexual intercourse with her since 2020.
“The teacher promptly reported to the school authority and the victim was taken to a health facility for medical attention,’’ she stated.
Result from the medical examination showed that the survivor had indeed been penetrated multiple times, Ladenegan-Ogini added.
She stressed that the agency had zero tolerance for child and sexual abuse and would always help survivors while ensuring that perpetrators were held accountable for their actions.
Meanwhile, an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, ordered that a 35-year-old man, Femi Afolabi be remanded in Kirikiri Correctional Centre for allegedly defiling his three daughters and assaulting their mother.
The Magistrate, Ms. Ejiro Kubeinje, who did not take Afolabi’s plea, directed the police to send the case file to the state Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice.
She adjourned the case until March 7 for DPP’s advice.
The police charged Afolabi who resides in Onipanu in Illupeju area of Lagos State with two counts of defilement and assault.
The Prosecution Counsel, DSP Kehinde Ajayi, told the court that Afolabi committed the offence sometime in Dec. 2022, in his residence at Onipanu..
She said that the mother of the girls had reported that her husband defiled their daughters aged nine, eight and five.
She said that when the mother of the girls got to know, she confronted her husband who got very angry and beat her up.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that defilement attracts life imprisonment according to the provisions of Section 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2005.
Assault attracts a one-year jail term, according to the provisions of Section 172 of the law.
