A witness, (name withheld), on Thursday, told an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court how his family friend, Emmanuel Ejima, allegedly defiled his 12-year-old daughter.
The prosecution witness, the father of the alleged survivor, narrated to the court that the defendant threatened to kill her daughter if he ever told anyone about the alleged sexual escapade.
He said the defendant also known as Ugo Emmanuel, allegedly had sex with her on May 29, 2022, after hiding it for some time.
According to him, the defendant lived in the same face-me-I-face-you compound, while he (the witness) resided in a single room with his family.
The witness said: “We were moving like family friends and I trusted him.
“My attention was brought towards my daughter’s bleeding around the time but I thought she was menstruating and bought her sanitary pads but it did not stop. So, we took her to the hospital.
“At the hospital in Kirikiri, they said it was an infection and I was charged N180,000 in which I needed help to raise the money.
“I had financial struggles which led me to seek help from people, including the defendant, a generator worker.”
The witness further told the court that it was on a Sunday after he returned from an outing with his wife that he learnt of the alleged rape of his daughter when his wife reported seeing her step out of the defendant’s apartment.
“When we came back from an outing one Sunday, my wife could not find my daughter in the room; so she shouted her name but she did not answer.
“My wife later came back and told me that she saw our daughter come out of Ugo Emma’s apartment.
“I asked my daughter to tell me what happened or I would bring a cane for her and she opened up and told me that Ugo Emmanuel forcefully had sex with her on the day he (defendant) sent her on an errand to buy food.
“She told me the man covered her face with a pillow, while she was struggling, he had sex with her with led to the bleeding.”
The witness said his daughter told him that the defendant had threatened her not to tell anyone or he would kill her father and mother.
He said he became angry after he heard the daughter’s account of the alleged rape.
“I wanted to carry a machete and go see what the man would do but one woman told me to calm down and not take the law in my hands.
“So, I went to the police station at Kirikiri and reported the case but the officer I met asked me to go outside and buy a pen and on my way I saw Ugo Emmanuel on his motorcycle going to work.
“I made a sign to some of the police officers outside and when I called out to him to stop, the officers arrested him,” the witness said.
He further told the court that he made a statement at the police station and that the officers took his daughter to another hospital where she was examined.
Under cross-examination by the Defense Counsel, Mr John Okoloise, the witness confirmed he had quarrel with the defendant over electricity bill.
Okoloise also asked the witness whether he received a gift of a schoolbag and sandals that the defendant gave his daughter and the witness answered in the affirmative.
“I received the gift but I did not know at the time that this was why he was buying a gift for my daughter,” the witness said.
The defence counsel asked the witness whether his daughter had ever lied to him and he said no.
“My daughter has never lied to me but she only hid the truth of the defilement earlier because the defendant threatened to kill her parents
Justice Rahman Oshodi adjourned the case to May 31, for the continuation of trial.
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