A 14-year-old girl (names withheld) has accused her father, Olawale Ibitoye, of raping and forcing her into marriage. The incident occurred at 9, Olulu Close, Ketu, Epe, a Lagos suburb.
The victim made the allegation at a traditional birth centre she was taken to during labour.
The Nation gathered that Ibitoye also forced the girl to marry one Moses Okurukpe, who impregnated her.
Another father, Ashiru Amusan, who was arrested for defiling his 12-year-old daughter at Akowonjo area of the state, also blamed the devil.
The suspect, who admitted to raping the girl once, said he did not know what came over him.
But Ibitoye denied defiling his daughter, claiming the girl was in the habit of fleeing from home.
He denied forcing her into marriage, insisting the teenager was the one who brought the man and introduced him as her husband.
He said: “I did not sleep with my daughter. She is learning a trade because she ran away from school. Then, she came with a man saying she want to marry him in person of Moses Okurukpe, who was also ready to marry her.
“I told the man that she has not finished learning her trade and he said I should not worry he will continue the payment which is N5,000. She came home with a six-month-old pregnancy and claimed her husband impregnated her.
“I went to her husband and we both went to our town to see Olisa, the second king. The husband already took her to one mola and she admitted that the mola slept with her, which the mola did not deny the fact too.
“She was in labour and because she could not deliver we took her to a private hospital in Ijebu Ode where they did the necessary things and she delivered a baby. We were asked to pay N115,000. We did not have money so we left her there to look for money.
We raised N55,000 but the hospital said we must complete the money and we left her there to go and look for more money. It was there she said I slept with her. The baby died at the hospital.”
Okurukpe said: “I was not aware of her age. She looked bigger than her age so I did not bother asking of her age. She came to my house twice. I did not marry her rightfully. I made it known to her that if one is pregnant in my town another man should not sleep with her.”
Parading the suspects on Tuesday, the state Police Commissioner, Imohimi Edgal, said the cases showed the moral decadence in the society.
According to him, the 14-year-old girl suffered double jeopardy in the hands of her father, who not only defiled her but forced her into marriage.
He said the victim opened up at the birth centre after she experienced difficulty in delivering the child.
Edgal said: “The cat was let out of the bag when the survivor became pregnant and was in labour for many days without being able to deliver the baby. She was then taken to a trado-medical home, where she confessed that her father had been having sex with her before he forced her into marriage with Okurukpe to cover his tracks.
“This is child marriage; this is sexual abuse and exploitation of the highest order. Both the father and the forced husband would be charged to court. This goes to show the erosion of values in our society.”