Court clears man accused of defiling neighbour’s child

By Adebisi Onanuga

Justice Abiola Soladoye of an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court yesterday discharged an artisan, Moses Semoji, accused of defiling his neighbour’s seven-year-old daughter (names withheld).

Justice Soladoye discharged the suspect due to lack of diligent prosecution.

She ordered Semoji’s release, following the plea of defence Counsel, Ms Emma Ndoyo that the case of the prosecution be closed due to non-appearance of prosecution witnesses.

According to Ndoyo, the suspect has been on remand in the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) centre since 2018 without the prosecution being able to prove the charge against him.

The prosecutor said he would  leave the matter to the discretion of the court.

“Freeing Semoji is at the discretion of this court. And the discretion is exercised in favour of the defendant”, he said.

While testifying on June 25, 2019, a medical doctor and the sole witness in the case, Dr Oyedeji Alagbe, had said the complainant was brought to Mirabel Centre on May 27, 2018, following  a referral from the Adekunle Police Station, Yaba, Lagos.

He said that from the medical examination he carried out on the complainant, he discovered that the child was defiled.

“My significant findings were found on her vagina, she had an intense redness on the vestibule, (wall of the vagina), it was also found on the urethra (where urine is passed).

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“My conclusion was that there has been forceful blunt penetration into the client’s vagina which can only be caused by a penis, finger or any smooth surfaced solid object,” he said.

However, after the evidence of Dr. Alagbe, neither the complainant, Investigating  Police Officer (IPO) nor  other witnesses, appeared in subsequent   court proceedings to give evidence.

According to the prosecution, Semoji on May 24, 2018 at Makoko area of Yaba, Lagos lured the complainant to his room and defiled her.

The offence, the prosecution said, contravened the provisions of  Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015 which stipulates life imprisonment for defilement.