One-chance driver caught after fuel in his vehicle finished

The 44-year-old driver was nabbed on third mainland bridge in Lagos State when the fuel in his Toyota Sienna vehicle got exhausted.

Waheed, who was dragged before Magistrate Patrick Nwaka of a Yaba Magistrate’s Court for two counts bordering on unlawful confinement, detention and defilement of his supposed passenger, was later remanded for allegedly kidnapping, detaining, and sexually assaulting a girl.

A police prosecutor told the court that Waheed used a dagger to threaten the girl to undress inside his car, and after that penetrated her.

Luck was said to have run out on the driver when the fuel in his vehicle finished and he couldn’t run away from the scene. The victim then raised alarm and he was captured.

According to the police prosecutor, Thomas Nurideen, Waheed committed the offence on Sunday, October 15, 2023, from 8 pm to 10 pm at the Third Mainland Bridge.

Nurudeen argued that the offences contravene Sections 272 and 26 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The charges read, “That you, Godwin Waheed, on October 15, 2023, between 8 pm and 10 pm at Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did unlawfully confine, detain one girl (name withheld), a passenger in your Toyota Sienna with registration No. ABJ 72 XB, absconded with her against her will to another destination and fingering her private parts with one hand after threatening her to undress with a dagger, and thereby, committed an offence punishable under Section 272 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

“That you, Godwin Waheed, on October 15, 2023, between 8 pm and 10 pm at Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did use your fingers to touch the private vagina of a girl (name withheld) having removed a dagger to threaten the victim before fuel exhausted in the vehicle on top of the bridge, and thereby, committed an offence punishable under Section 26 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”

Magistrate Nwaka, therefore, remanded the defendant at the correctional centre pending legal advice from the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).