LAGOS –
Justice Kudirat Jose of Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja was, yesterday,
told how a commercial driver, Ajayi Gbadegesin, 40, had sexual intercourse
with
his daughter for 18 months.
Led in evidence by the state prosecutor, Mr.
Babatunde Oguntemowo, an importer of laboratory and scientific equipment,
Babatope Adamolekun, said: “On May 12, 2014, at about 8a.m, on my way to work
at Bello Bus Stop, Iju, Lagos, I saw a 10-year-old girl (name withheld) begging
a woman for money.
“I asked her why she was not in school and the victim
narrated to me that she lost her mother, was staying with her step-mother in
Agege, a suburb of Lagos and needed money to go back.
The witness further told the court
that when he asked the girl of her father’s whereabouts, she told him that her
father’s commercial bus was parked a few meters away from the bus stop and that
he had gone to get fuel.
Adamolekun told the court that with the help of four
other people, they forced the victim’s father to the police station in a
tricycle. He added: “On getting to Red House Police Station at Iju Ishaga in
Agege, I told the police what happened and they assigned a female officer to
take the girl to hospital for test and treatment.
“I assisted them with N7,500
that evening when I was showed the result from the hospital that confirmed that
her father had sex with her. The DPO, Ajimote, directed them to charge the
matter to court immediately after seeing the report.”
The next morning,
Gbadegesin admitted having sex with his daughter, saying it was the devil’s
work. The witness continued: “Then we chartered a vehicle to Abule-Egba
Magistrate’s Court, where I was called as a witness, and the Magistrate ordered
that the girl be taken to Idi-Araba for rehabilitation, while her father was
remanded in Kirikiri Prison.” Justice Jose adjourned the matter till October 6
for continuation of trial.
