Romanus Okoye
An Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court, yesterday remanded a 55-year-old man, Nathaniel Okwuegbelem, in Kirikiri Correctional Centre over alleged defilement of his 16-year-old daughter.
The Magistrate, Mrs B. O. Osunsanmi, did not take the plea of Okwuegbelem but ordered that he should be remanded pending advice from the state Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The defendant, who resides at Ikotun area of Lagos, is facing a charge of rape. The police prosecutor, Ezekiel Ayorinde, had told the court that the defendant committed the offence in August at his residence. Ayorinde alleged that the defendant had canal knowledge of his daughter twice.
“The girl told her friend what her father had done to her and she reported the case to the police,” the prosecutor said.
The offence contravenes Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, which prescribes life imprisonment. The magistrate adjourned the case till January 13, 2020 for mention