Bricklayer remanded for allegedly defiling eight-year-old girl

A bricklayer, Bernard Celestine, was remanded at the Kirikiri Prisons in Lagos on Monday on the orders of an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court for allegedly defiling an eight-year-old girl.
Magistrate B.O. Osunsanmi did not take the plea of the accused but ordered that he should be kept behind bars, pending an advice from the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions.
The accused, 53, who resides at Idimu, near Lagos, is being tried for defilement.
Police Prosecutor, ASP. Ezekiel Ayorinde, told the court that the accused committed the offence on April 2 at his residence.
Ayorinde said that the accused defiled his neighbour’s child.
He said: “The accused called the girl inside his room on pretext of sending her on errand.
“When the girl entered, he bolted the door, laid her on his bed, fingered her private parts and had sexual intercourse with her.”
Ayorinde said that the girl, whose mother was no longer alive came out of the accused’s room crying.
He said: “When the girl’s guardian returned from work, she met the girl crying and she noticed that her clothes were stained with blood.
“Her guardian reported the case to the police and the accused was arrested.”
The prosecutor said that the offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Section prescribes life imprisonment for defilement.
The case was adjourned until June 13 for mention.