CRIME: MY 12-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER WAS DEFILED BY A FAMILY FRIEND - FATHER TELLS COURT

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By Aishat Momoh. O.

A witness (name withheld) has described to an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court how his family friend Emmanuel Ejima reportedly violated his 12-year-old daughter.

The father of the purported survivor, who was a prosecution witness, told the court that the defendant had threatened to kill his daughter’s parents if she ever told anybody about the supposed sexual encounter.

He stated that on May 29, 2022, the defendant Emmanuel, allegedly had sex with his daughter; which he only learned of when the survivor confided in him after keeping it a secret for a while.

He claimed that the defendant and his family shared a single room in the same face-me-I-face-you apartment.

The witness said: “We were moving like family friends and I trusted him.

“My attention was brought towards my daughter’s bleeding around the time but I thought she was menstruating and bought her sanitary pads but it did not stop so we took her to the hospital.

“At the hospital in Kirikiri, they said it was an infection and I was charged N180,000.

“I had financial struggles which led me to seek help from people, including the defendant, a generator worker.”

He went on to say that, “When we came back from an outing one Sunday, my wife could not find my daughter in the room so she shouted her name but she did not answer.

“My wife later came back and told me that she saw our daughter come out of Ugo Emma’s house.

“I asked my daughter to tell me what happened or I would bring a cane for her and she opened up and told me that Ugo Emmanuel forcefully had sex with her on the day he (defendant) sent her on an errand to buy food.

“She told me the man covered her face with a pillow, while she was struggling, and he had sex with her which led to the bleeding.”

He further told the court that he made a statement at the police station and that the officers took his daughter to another hospital where she was examined.

Under cross-examination by the Defense Counsel, Mr John Okoloise, the witness confirmed he had quarrelled with the defendant over electricity bills at one time.

Okoloise also asked the witness whether he received a gift of a school bag and sandals that the defendant gave his daughter and the witness answered in the affirmative.

“I received the gift but I did not know at the time that this was why he was buying a gift for my daughter,” the witness said.

The defense counsel asked the witness whether his daughter had ever lied to him and he said no.

“My daughter has never lied to me but she only hid the truth of the defilement earlier because the defendant threatened to kill her parents

Justice Rahman Oshodi adjourned the case to May 31 for the continuation of the trial.