A middle-aged man ,Emmanuel Ezekiel has been arrested by the operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civic Defense Corps (NSCDC) ,Ondo state command for allegedly raping and impregnating his 17 years old stepdaughter.
The girl( name withheld ) is now in a critical condition at the Federal Medical Center, Owo in Ondo state as she needs a sum of #80,000 for surgery before she could deliver her baby.
Emmanuel was said to have been arrested by the NSCDC officers on Monday when the case was reported by concerned neighbours.
The suspect was said to have confessed to the crime while the girl also confessed that the man would raped her whenever her mother was not around.
It was gathered that the suspect who is a farmer had been married with three children in Akwa Ibom state before relocating to Ondo state to work .
According to a source who preferred anonymity, Ezekiel met the mother of the victim in Akure and decided to accommodate her with her two children including the suspect’s three children.
It was also gathered that Ezekiel had been allegedly having canal knowledge of the little girl with force before it resulted into pregnancy.
A source within the FMC told our correspondent that “the girl is now in a critical condition and needs surgery because she could not deliver the baby by herself. They need #80,000 for the surgery but they have not got the money.”
It was gathered that the mother of the girl has been begging the NSCDC to release the suspect because he is the breadwinner of the family and that the NSCDC may bow to pressure of letting the man go Scot free.
In a reaction the public relations officer of NSCDC, Olufemi Ayodeji confirmed the crime and said efforts were on to prosecute the suspect and rehabilitate the raped girl who is now in a critical condition
Ayodeji said “ After investigation,we later discovered that they lied about the state of the pregnancy. They told us that it was six months but we later got to know that it was close to nine months. That means anytime from now the girl would put to bed.
The there is an NGO that showed interest of taking responsibility of the delivery and we have already sent the details of the girl to them because she would actually go through cesarean section and that would be done at Federal Medical Center ,Owo.
The community members and religious leaders have been coming to appeal on behalf of the suspect and presently,he is just being released on bail based on recognition while we focused on how to rehabilitate the victim but i can assure you that he is not yet released.
We actually gave him bail because he fell ill while in custody and his state of health was deteriorating. He is expected to be reporting to our office.”
Ayodeji debunked the allegation that the NSCDC was trying to bury the case, saying “the corps would never do such because investigation is still ongoing and we will get to the root of the matter and definitely the man who defiled the girl would face the wrath of the law.”
Source:Roving reporters
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