Father who confesses to fingering daughter’s private part makes a u-turn

Lagos - A 43-year-old father, Idris Abu, on Monday pleaded not guilty to defiling his two-year-old in an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court.
Abu had on October 5, pleaded guilty to defiling his two-year-daughter, but made a u-turn on Monday claiming he did not understand the charge when it was read.
The Magistrate, T. A Elias, had remanded at the Kirikiri Prisons for facts and sentencing till October 24.
At the resumed hearing However, when Elias, was about to deliver his judgment, the accused changed his plea to not guilty.
Consequently, the magistrate ordered the investigating police officer to duplicate and forward the case file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice.
Elias, therefore, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N500 000, with one surety in like sum.
He adjourned the case till November 28 for mention.
Abu, a resident of Agege Area of Lagos, is being tried for indecent assault of his child.
The Prosecutor, Sgt. Rachael Donny, had told the court that the accused committed the offence on July 29 at his residence.
Donny said that the accused unlawfully sexually assaulted his two-year-old daughter by fingering her private part.
“The accused always inserted one of his figures into his baby’s private part ignoring her crying,” Donny said.
The prosecutor said that the child’s mother later discovered the atrocity after the girl complained of pain in her private part.
“The baby used to cry in the middle of the night, once when the mother rushed to the room she caught her husband naked with his manhood erect and with his finger in their daughter’s vargina,” he said.
According to the prosecutor, whenever the victim’s mother confronted him, he always threatened her with divorce.
The offence, he said, contravened Section 135 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011, which on conviction attracts seven-year imprisonment.