23-Year Old Given N1 Million Bail For ‘Defiling 3-Year-Old’

An Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court on Friday granted bail in
the sum of N1 million to a 23-year-old trader, Obinna Obaji, who allegedly
defiled a three-year-old girl by fingering.

The Chief Magistrate, Tajudeen Elias, in his ruling, ordered
the defendant to produce two sureties in like sum as part of the bail
conditions.

Elias said Obaji should deposit N100, 000 into the Chief
Registrar’s Account, pending the determination of the case.

Obaji, a trader of No 32, Orisumbare Street, Iyana Ipaja, a
suburb of Lagos, was arraigned on Feb. 29 on a one-count charge of sexual
assault, but he pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutor, Benedict Aigbokhan, told the court that the
defendant committed the offence at his residence on Feb. 21. Aigbokhan said
that the defendant was living in the same compound with the victim’s mother.

“It was when the victim, a three-year-old girl, wanted to
urinate that her mother discovered that she was finding it difficult to urinate
and also crying.

“The mother saw marks on her daughter’s vagina and when she
asked her what happened, the girl said it was the defendant that inserted his
hand into it,’’ Aigbokhan said.

The prosecutor said the offence contravened Section 404 of
the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. Elias, however, adjourned the case to
April 13 for the Department of Public Prosecution’s advice.

(NAN)