Mother caught father committing incest with their daughter, witness tells court

A witness, Sgt. Olakunle Orebe, on Thursday told an Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court how Folorunso Oluwaseun, a 52-year-old father, was caught by his wife having unlawful sexual intercourse with their 17-year-old daughter in their matrimonial home.

Orebe, a policeman attached to the Gender Unit of the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, is the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) of the case.

He was led in evidence by Mr Babajide Boye, the lead state prosecutor.

“The survivor (name withheld) told the police that her father had been sexually abusing her since 2012 and that sometime in 2016 her mother caught her father in the act in the bedroom.

“Their home which was the scene of the crime was a bungalow and the family uses a room and a parlour in the building.

“Her mother was unaware of the sexual abuse until 2016 when she caught the defendant with their daughter.

“The survivor said that was what made her to leave Lagos for Ibadan to stay with her younger brother and sister,” Orebe said.

The IPO, in his testimony, narrated how the alleged sexual crime came to the attention of the authorities.

“When the survivor got to Ibadan, she began to teach in a school but the issue was weighing heavily on her mind.

“She reported the matter to the proprietress of the school, the proprietress in turn directed her to a NGO.

“The NGO in turn directed her to the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT), Alausa, Ikeja.

“The DSVRT sent us a referral letter dated Oct. 19, 2017 and we immediately arrested the defendant.

“The DSVRT let us understand that they referred the survivor to the Mirabel Center for a medical examination and I saw a report from Mirabel, ” he said.

Following the revelation, Boye sought to tender the statement of the defendant into evidence.

Mr Worer Obuagbaka, counsel to Oluwaseun, however, objected to the tendering of the statement on the grounds that it was obtained by the police under duress.

Proceedings,however, took an interesting turn when Justice Sybil Nwaka, ordered a trial-within-trial to determine the voluntariness of the statement.

During the trial-within-trial, Orebe denied forcing Oluwaseun to write his confessional statement.

Led in evidence by Boye, the IPO said, “I cautioned him before he wrote the statement and I told him he was entitled to legal representation.

“After he wrote his statement, I read the statement aloud to him and he affirmed the contents, he was never handcuffed or chained from Ikorodu to Ikeja.

“I did not torture, beat, slap or threaten him, he understood the statement when I read it aloud and he signed it.

“My superior officer, ASP Abimbola Williams, read the statement again to him and he affirmed making the statement and the superior officer signed,” he said.

Oluwaseun, however, gave a different version of how his confessional statement was obtained.

Led in evidence by Obuagbaka, he said, “I was in my house when the police came to arrest me, they told me that I should respect myself and if I do not, they will handcuff me.

“They did not come with a vehicle and I had to pay for a commercial tricycle to take us where their vehicle was and when we got there, they handcuffed me.

“When we got to the Police Command, they gave me a paper and I was told to write what went on between me and my daughter.

“I was instructed to write what my daughter wrote in her statement, the IPO threatened me and I was showed a pistol.

“I was never told I had a right to legal representation.He slapped me and I was shivering and out of fear, I wrote out that I sucked my daughter’s breast three times,” he said.

While being cross-examined by Boye, Oluwaseun,told the court that he was physically assaulted by the IPO.

“The IPO gave me a heavy slap, he said if I write that I sucked my daughter’s breast three times in my statement, I will be set free,” he said.

Countering the defendant’s testimony, Boye queried: “How come out of all the body parts of your daughter, it is her breasts you could write a statement about?

“I put it to you that you did what you were accused of and despite you alleging it to be untrue, you willingly signed the statement.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Oluwaseun, a technician and a resident of No. 30, Popoola St., Ikorodu, Lagos, was arraigned on Feb. 8 and on a two-count charge of defilement and sexual assault.

He however denied the charges.

According to the prosecution, the offences contravene Sections 137 and 263 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.

His daughter and alleged victim had on May 23 testified about the abuse which spanned four years (2012-2016) which started when she was 13 years old.

She had told the court that Oluwaseun blackmailed her by refusing to give her and her younger siblings aged five and two years, food unless she gave in to his sexual demands.

Justice Sybil Nwaka adjourned the case until June 28 for adoption of the final written addresses of the trial-within-trial.