A 22-year-old man, Farouk (surname withheld), who was arrested for alleged s3xual molestation of a three-year-old (names withheld) in Ibadan, Oyo State, last Thursday night, has admitted doing so, saying he was trying to check his retracted manhood which he had not been able to use as a man should.
Nigerian Tribune gathered from a credible source that the young man, living at Popo Yemoja, Ibadan, was arrested by the Amotekun Corps after they got information of his act from local security men in the area where they all live.
According to the source, the toddler was beside her sleeping grandmother on a mat on a veranda while trying to get fresh air to beat the heat being experienced in their apartment when the suspect came to pick her up.
He reportedly took her to a room in which he used to sleep with his neighbour, sat her on his private part and started thrusting in the way he could until he ejaculated, despite the girl’s feeble resistance and cries. Relieved of the sexual tension he had had, Farouk dropped the innocent girl and asked her to return to her grandmother’s side.
With her body smeared with some sticky liquid, later discovered to be sperm, the girl slept until her father (names also withheld) came to wake up his mother and children, carrying his youngest daughter to take her inside their apartment to sleep.
However, the father noticed the stickiness on his daughter’s thighs and buttocks and was thrown into shock when he smelt the substance and discovered it to be sperm.
The third born toddler who was being taken care of by her father and grandmother, was said to have lost her mother in August 2023, five days after she delivered her fourth child, a son.
Nigerian Tribune learnt that it was because of the sad occurrence that the grandmother left Lagos to take care of the seven-month-old baby and his three elder sisters.
The distraught father told the Nigerian Tribune: “We don’t have light in our area, so we used to sleep in our veranda. That day, when I returned from my shop, I fed the children while grandma carried the baby. After that, I went to take care of the chickens I’m rearing. By then, they had all slept on the veranda. Since I was not feeling sleepy, I went to friends in our neighbourhood to exchange pleasantries and have general discussions with them.
“I returned home a little after 11 pm and woke everyone up to go inside. As I picked my daughter to hold her to my chest as the youngest among the girls, I noticed my hand being smeared with a wet, sticky substance. Wondering what it was, I checked her underpants and exclaimed. I ran inside and showed my mother. It was sperm. I also called a female neighbour to check it and she confirmed it as sperm.
“I couldn’t hold myself. I went out with my daughter to lodge a complaint with law enforcement agents but was sent back by local security men. I went out again but was still stopped until I showed my daughter to them and they were amazed.
“They got a bike for me and on the way, we met Amotekun personnel. At first, they thought I stole a child until. I explained to them what happened. After informing their superiors and being given directives, they went to my residence and picked the males there to find out the culprit among them.”
It was learnt that in the course of interrogation of all the men arrested, the suspect confessed to the act. When contacted by the Nigerian Tribune, the second-in-command, Amotekun Corps, MrKazeemBabalolaAkinro confirmed the story and said that it had been transferred to Mapo Division of the state police command for further investigation.
The toddler was also said to have been taken to hospital where marks of injuries were seen at the entry of her vulva. Though the hymen was said to be intact, an indication that the penetration was not deep, semen was clearly seen outside and in her vulva.
Nigerian Tribune also gathered that youths in the area descended on the father, protesting the arrest of some of them by Amotekun Corps. They reportedly called him a wicked man who called law enforcement agents on innocent persons. They were said to have turned deaf ears to his explanation that he didn’t call Amotekun or instigated the arrests made, saying that they heard of the incident from security men and acted on it.
They were even said to have gone to a popular radio station to report the arrest while they did not dwell on the defilement of the toddler.
After his arrest by Amotekun the suspect was said to have initially denied even knowing the girl despite her pointing to him as the one who did something to her. However, he later confessed that he wanted to check his retracted manhood which he had not been able to put to use because of his condition.
The suspect, who said that he was an apprentice in an electronic goods store, also wove round his words with the Nigerian Tribune but later opened up.
He said: “I live with my parents but I used to sleep in the rooms of some men living in the compound. It is true that I slept with the three-year-old girl.”
When asked why he did it, he responded: “I don’t even understand myself. My manhood has not been functioning since about 10 years ago. I don’t have a girlfriend because of my condition.
The girl was crying and I left her. It is true that I ejaculated and poured it on her. I slept in the room of one of the men before we were arrested at dawn on Friday. The girl pointed at me when asked to identify the person who touched her among the six of us arrested.”
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