An Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday remanded a 14-year-old teenager (names withheld) at the Boys Correctional Centre, Isheri, a suburb of Lagos, for allegedly raping a five-year-old girl who happens to be his neighbor.
The Chief Magistrate, Mr Tajudeen Elias, who remanded the accused, over the alleged defilement, then adjourned the case to March 23, to listen to the accused’s bail application.
The accused, a student, who lives with his parents at 2, Kao Close, Santos Estate, Dopemu, a suburb of Lagos, is facing a charge of defilement.
The prosecutor, Benedict Aigbokhan, said the accused committed the offence on Feb. 4, at his residence’s toilet.
“One of the neighbours, who heard the cry of the girl, had to rush into the toilet where he apprehended the accused,” the prosecutor told the court.
The offence, according to the prosecutor, contravenes Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Section 137 prescribes that any person who has sexual intercourse with a child is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for life.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty.