The Bayelsa State Police Command has arrested and charged to court a 65-year-old paedophile, Uchenna Ignatius, for having forceful, carnal knowledge of a 15-year-old boy along the Bay Bridge area in Kpansia, Yenagoa local government area of the state.
The accused, who is a commercial motorist, had reportedly been having carnal knowledge of the boy since 2012, threatening to kill him if his deeds are revealed to anyone or his parents.
The prosecution counsel, Mr Kenneth Adokeme, while arraigning the accused before a Bayelsa High Court sitting in Yenagoa and headed by Justice Margaret Akpomiemie, told the court that the actions of the accused were contrary to the provisions of Section 139(a) of the Criminal Code, Cap.14, of the 2006 Laws of Bayelsa State.
According to Adokeme, the accused first committed the offense in 2012 when he (the boy) was returning from school at Okaka, along the Mbiama-Yenagoa Road of the state capital. The accused convinced the boy and took him to his house at the Bay Bridge area, “even after the boy told him that it was not his destination.
“The accused tricked the boy into his house after telling him that he was a relation of his mother, but when he entered the house of the accused, he (the accused) shut the door, locked it and asked the boy to take off his clothes. When the boy refused to obey him, the accused brought out a knife and threatened to kill him if he dared to shout. The boy had no option but to obey him.
“The accused abused the boy by having anal sex with him, causing him to bleed profusely. After that first time, the accused would repeatedly go to the school at closing hours and take the boy home to have sex with him,” Adokeme disclosed.
But luck ran out on Ignatius when, on January 17,2014, he visited the home of the boy and took advantage of the absence of the parents to abuse the boy in his parents’ bedroom.
“Incidentally, the boy started crying when he heard his uncle’s voice. The uncle was told by the younger sister of the boy that a strange man was inside the bedroom with his brother. The uncle forced the door open and saw the boy and the accused on the bed. Scared, the accused ran into the toilet, where he was apprehended by a mob,” Adokiye narrated.
Justice Akpomiemie ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody till May 9,2014.