Man 48, defiles 13-year-old girl in Lagos

Man 48, defiles 13-year-old girl in Lagos

Etim Effiong

The gender based unit of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Lagos State Command, have arrested a 48-year-old man, Charles Ekwe for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl, Chinyere Everest, who is his wife’s niece at 1B Surulere Street, Ojo Lagos State.

It was gathered that the suspect started abusing the girl before the COVID-19 locked down, although the girl was said to be scared of reporting the defilement to her aunty.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the corps, Bada, Kehinde Mary, on Wednesday.

In her statement, Everest said her uncle, who she calls ”daddy” started sexually assaulting her early this year and does that whenever her aunty leaves the house and also in his shop.

According to her, Ekwe who was arrested on October 12 for the crime, had exposed her to pornography on his phone, adding that he threatened to kill her if she tells anybody. She noted that the assault happened on many occasions to the extent that she has lost counts of her defilement.

The victim’s aunty, Mrs Blessing Ekwe, in her statement said her niece has been living with them for the past four years after the death of the victim’s father.

She stated that she noticed something was wrong three weeks ago which prompted her to interrogate her and she opened up by telling her that the suspect has been sexually abusing her. She then took her for medical examination and it was confirmed that she has been defiled.

The suspect admitted to committing the crime but insisted he only fondled her genitals and made her watch pornography on his phone.

The commandant, Mr Ayeni Paul, in his statement while addressing the press said, “The suspect will face the full wrath of the law and will be handed over to the appropriate agency for further investigation and prosecution.

“This is heinous crime and all perpetuators of such when caught will be made to pay dearly.”

Reiterating the corps’ readiness to combat crime in the state, the commandant said the corps will not rest on its oars in ensuring a crime free Lagos.

He also said the gender based Unit of the corps, which is saddled with the responsibility of handling rape, domestic violence, sexual assault and defilement as well as child abuse cases has well trained officers to handle such cases and enjoined the populace to feel free to make such report.