A 78-year-old man identified as Alhaji Dauda Adebowale has been arrested by Police officials of the Lagos State Command for allegedly defiling an 11-year-old Primary Two pupil (names withdrawn) at Pen Cinema, in the Agege area of the state.
On the day of the incident, the septuagenarian from Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, beckoned on the victim and sent her on an errand, but on return, the suspect dragged her into the shop where he lived and subsequently gained carnal knowledge of her forcefully.
It was gathered that he threatened to sniff the life out of her if she ever said a word of the incident to a third party.
According to Punch, Adebowale cashed in on the minor’s fear and thereafter raped her on several occasions and finally had his way in June 2015.
Adebowale’s secret was busted when the victim who was sleeping beside her mother in the afternoon of Sunday, August 2, 2015 suddenly woke up, shouting ‘penis, penis.
The bemused mother who spoke anonymously said, “On that Sunday, I was ill and was sleeping. She also slept beside me. She suddenly cried out, shouting, ‘penis, penis, penis’. I was shocked. When I asked her what happened, she said it was a man on our street that had been having sex with her.
“I followed her to the man’s house. Some boys confronted him and he confessed to them. I then reported him at the Area G Police Command in Ogba and he was arrested. I took my daughter to a hospital for tests because she has become lean. The medical result showed that her vagina had been tampered with and I have given it to the police.”
Narrating her ordeal, the victim, said, “I was passing by a shop on our street one Saturday afternoon when he called me. He was sitting outside the shop and told me to help him bring a document inside the shop. I was about to leave after I gave him the document when he dragged me inside and locked the door.
“He covered my mouth and raped me. He threatened to kill me if I told anybody. The following day, he called me again and repeated the same thing. I can’t remember how many times he had sex with me. Whenever I told him I would tell my mother, he would say I was playing with my life.
“When I could no longer bear it, I opened up to a woman in our area and she promised that she would make sure the man was evicted from the shop.
“It was few days after that my mother said she heard me shout ‘penis’ while I was asleep.”
On her own part, the victim’s sister who preferred anonymity stated that she narrowly escaped
She said, “He called me two weeks ago and told me that he liked me. He promised to take care of me if I cooperated.
“I said I did not understand and managed to run away. I told my mother when I got home and she warned me to stay off his reach.”
Adebowale was arraigned on three counts bordering on rape at an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in the state, although he pleaded not guilty after the charges were read out to him.
The charges read in part, “That you, Alhaji Dauda Adebowale, 78, sometime in 2015, at a shop in Pen Cinema, Agege, Lagos, in the Ikeja Magisterial District, did have sexual intercourse with one 11-year-old girl.
“That you, within the same period and place in the aforementioned magisterial district, did sexually assault one 11-year-old girl.”
The police revealed that the offence contravened sections 137, 166 and 257 of the Criminal Law II, Vol. 44 of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.
The president of the court, Mr. T. Elias, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N1million with two sureties each in like sum.
He ordered that Adebowale be remanded in prison custody pending on when he meets his bail conditions.
The case was adjourned until Wednesday, September 2, 2015 for further mention.
