Quote:An Ikeja magistrate’s court sitting in Ogba, Lagos State, has ordered the remand of a 35-year-old man, Peter Adida, in prison custody for allegedly defiling his daughter.

Adida was arraigned by the police on one count bordering on the alleged crime before a magistrate, Mrs O. Sule-Amzat.

It was learnt that Adida was arrested after his wife lodged a complaint at the Lamgbasa Police Station that he fondled their daughter’s private parts.

The family lived on Oyelayo Olajisoye Street, Badore, Ajah, where the incident happened.

The wife, Taiwo, had reportedly noticed some discharge from the private parts of the two-year-old on November 15, 2018 and raised the alarm.

She was said to have prodded the kid, who allegedly accused her father of touching her private parts.

The case was later transferred to the Gender Unit of the Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja and the suspect was charged to court.

A police prosecutor, Inspector Benson Emerhi, who brought Adida before the court, said the offence was punishable under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The charge read, “That you, Peter Dada, sometime in November 2018, on Oyelayo Olajisoye Street, Aja, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did unlawfully defile a two-year-old, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.”

In the remand warrant application filed before the court, the police gave the narrative of the victim’s mother as regards the incident.

“One Mrs Taiwo reported that her two-year-old daughter was defiled by her father, one Peter Adida, 35. The complainant stated that on November 15, 2018, she noticed that her daughter was having some discharge in her vaginal and that when she took her to a hospital, it was discovered that there was penetration in her vaginal.

“She alleged that on questioning her daughter, she told her that it was her father who touched her (private parts). The suspect, however, made a statement, denying the allegation.”

The presiding magistrate, Sule-Amzat, did not take the plea of the defendant.

She ordered that he be remanded in prison custody pending the outcome of legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions on the matter.