A 42-year-old father, Pedro Anegbe, has told an Ebute Meta
Magistrate’s Court that a spirit asked him to rape his 15-year-old daughter to
get a job.
He said the voice ordred him to rape the girl
shortly after he lost his job and was idle at home.
Anegbe was arraigned on two counts for defiling
his 15-year-old daughter (name withheld) at their home on Ifelodun Street,
Fatolu Ipaja, Lagos State.
The Investigating Police Officer, Sergeant Bakare Murtala, told the
court his findings in the course of investigation.
Murtala said, “The defendant is the biological
father of the girl. She told us her father had sexually harassed her. We
questioned him on his daughter’s allegation and he confessed to the crime. He
said he had raped her twice.”
The magistrate, Olanrewaju Olatunji, asked Anegbe
why he raped his own daughter.
The father of three said, “I am actually living
with my wife and three children. I have two girls and a boy. She is my first
born. I have had sex with her just two times. The first was on January 27,
2014. But I cannot remember the date of the second one.”
On how it all began, he said, “I did it because I
thought it was God talking to me, but later I knew it was an evil spirit. The
voice said I needed power. To get the power, the voice said I must damage some
things.
“I started destroying the clutch and brake of the
vehicle I was given to drive. Then the voice told me I should stop delivering
money to the owner of the vehicle after each day’s work. I stopped and I was
sacked.
“I became idle after I lost my job. The voice
came again, saying I should have sex with my daughter or else I would not get
another job. That was why I slept with her.”
However, despite his admission, the defendant
pleaded not guilty to the charge of rape.
He also told the court that he wanted his case
tried at the High Court.
Olatunji said, “You have confessed that you raped
your daughter, why then did you still say you were not guilty of the crime
after the charge was read to you? Don’t you understand the charge or what is
the problem?”
“I am just forcing myself to talk, because the
voice said I should not say anything,” Anegbe said.
His defence
counsel, Rasaq Adeyemi, citing Section 115 of the Law of Lagos
State, Nigeria, 2011, prayed the court to admit him to bail in liberal terms
since he was still presumed innocent until proven guilty by the court.
In his ruling, the magistrate said, “This is a
bailable offence, but it is a family matter. The defendant is to be remanded in
prison pending legal advice
from the Directorate of Public Prosecution.”
The matter was adjourned till April 4, 2014.
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