A 45-year-old gardener, Phillip Ononaku, who allegedly defiled a 13-year-old girl, was yesterday remanded at the Kirikiri Prisons by an Ogudu Magistrates’ Court, Lagos.
Magistrate Mrs. E. Kubeinje, however, refused to take the defendant’s plea when the charge was read to him.
She ordered that the defendant be kept behind bars pending legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
“Because of the sensitivity of the case, it is difficult to grant bail. The case file should be duplicated and sent to the DPP for advice,” Kubeinje said.
She adjourned the case till June 27.
The defendant, of no fixed address, is being tried for alleged unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
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Prosecuting Inspector Lucky Ihiehie said the defendant committed the offence in January at Olopomeji, Oworonshoki, Lagos.
He alleged that the defendant had been sleeping with the girl under a flower at the IBB garden and each time, he gave her either N200 or N100.
The prosecutor told the court that the girl’s grandmother noticed that she wasn’t walking normally and when she was questioned after threats, the minor opened up to her and narrated how it started.
“The defendant and his friend took the little girl home one day when she missed her way and since then; he will come to her house to lure her with money so that he can sleep with her.
“He always takes her to the IBB garden to have sex with her,” Ihiehie alleged.
He said the offence violated Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
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