Precious
A 14-year-old girl (name withheld), has narrated how her father allegedly got her pregnant after having sex with her countless times.
Narrating her ordeal while testifying before an Akure High Court, the victim stated that her 41-year-old father identified as Ojowi Johnson, had for almost two years been committing incest with her following the death of her mother.
According to her, the father, who is an automobile mechanic, had threatened to kill her if she ever confided in anyone about the sordid relationship between them.
She added that the fear of his threat made her keep mute about the act until she summoned the courage to report to the police.
“My father had taken me to one “mummy Ayo” in Ifon who carried out an abortion on me when I got pregnant for him.
“In April 2018, I summoned the courage and went to report him at the ‘A’ Division in Owo, which led to his arrest.”
Corroborating the claims of the victim, the prosecution team led by a state counsel, A.M Kayode, told the court that the accused, who is a widower, committed the crime at his residence in Clerk quarter, Ijebu Owo in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State where he was steadily having unlawful sex with his daughter.
The state counsel also alleged that the accused after putting his daughter in a family way took her to Ifon, his home town in order to procure an abortion for her.
Also testifying, one Inspector Kareem Lukman, stated that a case of rape and procuring illegal abortion was reported at their station by the girl against her father and that the case was transferred to him for investigation.
Lukman explained that the accused person was subsequently arrested, while he gave a voluntary statement after due caution.
In the statement, the IPO said the accused person admitted to have slept with his daughter and that it only happened five times.
Meanwhile, Ojovi, who was arraigned before the court on a two-count charge of rape and illegal abortion, pleaded “not guilty” to the charges levelled against him.
Ojovi testified that:-
“I am not the one who put her in the family way. My daughter is wayward, which was why I had helped her to get rid of the pregnancy so that she would not bring shame upon the family.”
According to Ojowi, the mother of the victim died when the girl was seven years old and she was later taken to Port-Harcourt to live with her paternal aunt.
He said that his sister had returned the girl some few years later, with an accusation that she was wayward, stressing that her waywardness and unseriousness had led to her to still be in primary school at age 14.
The judge, Justice Samuel Bola, subsequently adjourned the case till November 29, 2019, for judgment.
