A Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Minna, Niger State capital, has ordered that two middle-aged men be remanded in a correctional centre for allegedly defiling a 12-year-old girl.
The accused persons: Umaru Hussaini and Zulkifilu Musa, were said to be residents of the Sabon Gari area of Kagara, headquarters of Rafi Local Government Area of the State.
They were said to have lured the 12-year-old girl into Musa’s room, where they allegedly had canal knowledge of her one after the other, though without her consent.
The Police prosecutor, Inspector Bello Mohammed Beji, had informed the court that the two accused persons were arraigned before the court for prosecution over the allegation of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child.
He said the offence contravened sections 79 of the Penal Code Law and section 26 (2) of the Niger State Child Rights Act 2021.
Beji further explained that one Lawal Haruna of the Sabon Gari area of the same address had complained to Kagara Divisional Police headquarters that the two suspected rapists had allegedly lured his 12-year-old daughter to the room and raped her one after the other.
According to him, immediately after the Police got the report, detectives swung into action and dispatched Police operatives to the scene and effected the arrests of the two accused persons.
“During police interrogation, each of the two suspects confessed to having committed the offence,” the prosecutor noted.
However, when the charges were read by the Presiding Chief Magistrate, Hajiya Ummikhatune Mohammed, one of the accused persons, Umaru Husseini, pleaded guilty to the offence.
However, the second accused person, Zulkifilu Musa pleaded not guilty to the offence.
Thereafter, the Police prosecutor, Inspector Mohammed Bello Beji applied for the adjournment of the case to enable the police to bring witnesses for the commencement of a full trial.
The presiding Chief Magistrate, thereby ordered that the accused persons be kept in a correctional facility, and adjourned the case to February 14, 2024.
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