"I didn’t meet her a virgin", suspected rapist says after molesting 10-yr-old Benue IDP

On Sunday, August 4, 2019, Targba was said to have been abandoned at a hospital but later rushed to Foundation Memorial Hospital, Makurdi, where she was delivered of a baby girl.

Terna, a farmer who dropped out of secondary school, was paraded by the Benue State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Garuba.

The Police commissioner made it known to NAN, on Thursday, August 8, 2019 that he only slept with her twice, and he didn’t meet her virgin.

He said he slept with her twice in December 2018 with her consent.

He said, “I actually slept with her twice in December last year and it was with her consent. I did not rape her and since then, every effort to get close to her proved abortive as she was always running away whenever I saw her.

“It was around May this year, l saw her with pregnancy and I tried to engage her in a talk but she ran away.”

After Masenengen gave birth, she mentioned Terna's name as the father of her child, adding that he accepted responsibility as the baby’s father and also came to the hospital to check on her.

He stated, “It was while I was at the hospital that the police arrested me. The first time I met her, she only came to my house and told me that her uncle sent her away from the house and that she didn’t have a place to sleep and I offered to accommodate her in my house that night.

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“I gave her food and allowed her to sleep without touching her. The next day, she returned saying the same story and it was then that I slept with her for the first time. Then I slept with her another time. In all, I slept with her twice.”

When asked if the girl was not too young for him to sleep with, Terna said, “I never thought she was too young when I was sleeping with her. But the truth is that I didn’t meet her a virgin. She wasn’t a virgin at all.”