Court remands teenager for defiling neighbour’s 5-year-old girl

An Ikeja Magistrate’s Court sitting in Ogba, Lagos, has remanded a teenager identified as Tosin Oloyede, for raping a five-year-old girl during the presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.

Magistrate Mrs. B. O. Osusanmi, who presided over the matter in court, remanded the suspect on Wednesday, March 8, 2023.

Oloyede, according to Osusanmi, would be remanded at the Special Correctional Centre for Boys in Oregun pending legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP).

Speaking on the rape incident, the prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Akeem Raji revealed that the suspect committed the crime on Saturday, February 25, 2023.

According to the prosecutor, the 16-year-old suspect allegedly defiled his neighbour’s daughter around 2 pm in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.

”Oloyede defiled the victim by having sexual intercourse with her,” the prosecutor added.

Raji argued that the offence committed contravened Section 27 and is punishable under Section 210 (8) of the Child Right Law of Lagos State 2015.

Corroborating the prosecutor’s claims, investigating police officer, Inspector Esther Igbineweka told the court that the suspect made a confessional statement at the Igbogbo Police Station when the parents reported the matter and he also made a confessional statement at the police command in Ikeja.

However, the suspect, at the open court, only admitted to touching the victim.

The father of the victim said the incident happened when he and his wife went out to fast their vote on election day.

His words: “We went to cast our vote on election day and when we returned, my son said he was playing football outside when the boy raped his sister.

“While he was playing the ball outside, he said he discovered that he didn’t see his sister and went in search of her. He told us that he caught the boy who is my neighbour’s son when he got inside the house.

“My son also told us that the parents of the boy begged him not to tell us when we returned but my son said how will he not tell us about such a thing that happened to his sister.”

The case had been adjourned till April 12, 2023, for the DPP’s legal advice.