A 36-year-old man, Chigozie Osuocha, has confessed to the defilement of his niece, Benita, in the Olodi Apapa area of Lagos State.
Chigozie, who brought the 12-year-old from Imo State in July 2017, allegedly said he had slept with her five times.
The suspect was reported to have made the statement to operatives of the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command during interrogation.
It was learnt that the victim had been sighted around 10pm on Thursday at Mile 2, after alighting from a commercial bus from Olodi Apapa.
She was reportedly with two of the suspect’s children, aged four and six.
Benita was about to board another vehicle to Maza Maza when she was intercepted by a policeman, who took her for questioning on how she came about the two children.
She was said to have opened up to the cop, saying she was returning to her hometown in Imo State over alleged sexual assault by her uncle.
Benita noted that she was taking the uncle’s two children along because they insisted on following her.
The victim, in her statement to the police, explained that since she was brought from the village, she had not been attending school, despite Chigozie’s assurances to her parents that he would enrol her upon her arrival in Lagos.
She stated that any time Chigozie wanted to defile her, he would return home early from work, lock his three children out of the house and have sex with her.
Benita said the eldest of the three children, aged six, later queried her on what the father did with her anytime he locked them out of the house.
She said she told him the details and the boy leaked the secret to the mother.
“His wife confronted me and I confirmed the story. I told her what her husband did to me. She threatened to pack out of the house. But they resolved the matter after he promised it wouldn’t happen again.
“I have been staying with his three children at home, while they go about their business. He has refused to enrol me in a school since July 2017 when I came. I also reported everything uncle did to me to his brother in Lagos, who informed the father in the village.
“They (the children) saw me packing my things out of the house and asked me where I was going. When I told them I was returning to the village, they started crying and said they would follow me. I took them along after stealing the N60,000 he (Chigozie) said I should give to his wife. I took his two sons with me and left the last child at home.
“I didn’t know police officers were monitoring me. One of them crossed the expressway and asked me some questions about the children and I told him I was running back to the village because my uncle was sleeping with me,” she added.
The RRS were said to have got the suspect’s telephone number from the six-year-old son, who was with Benita.
Chigozie was reportedly lured to the RRS’ headquarters in Alausa, Ikeja, where he was confronted with the allegations, which he allegedly confessed to.
The suspect was alleged to have said he slept with her only five times, while blaming the act on the devil.
Chigozie reportedly said he sought the girl’s parents’ permission to bring her to Lagos to continue her education while assisting his wife with domestic chores.
“I brought her to Lagos in July 2017 and started sleeping with her in December 2017. I slept with her three times in December and twice in January.
“My wife got to know about it and she threatened to move out of the house with my three children. I begged her and we resolved the issue.
“I came home yesterday and gave her N60,000 for my wife. It was the money she took as she wanted to travel to the village with my two boys,” he said.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chike Oti, confirmed the incident, adding that the victim had been transferred to the Family Support Unit of the command.
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