NO, I ONLY SUCKED MY DAUGHTER’S BREAST 3 TIMES – HUSBAND
Admin l Friday, June 22, 2018
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – A Domestic and Sexual Offences court sitting in Ikeja was on Thursday shocked when a witness told the court how 52 year old Folorunso Oluwaseun was caught having sex with his 17 year old girl in the bedroom. The witness, Sgt. Olakunle Orebe said Folorunso Oluwaseun’s wife caught him having unlawful sexual intercourse with their 17-year-old daughter in their matrimonial home.
Orebe, a policeman attached to the Gender Unit of the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, Lagos is the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) of the case, who was led in evidence by Mr Babajide Boye, the lead state prosecutor told the court that the girl in question confessed that her father had been sexually abusing her since 2012 and that sometime in 2016, her mother caught her father in the bedroom in the act of having sexual intercourse with her.
“Their home which was the scene of the crime was a bungalow and the family uses a room and parlour in the building. Her mother was unaware of the sexual abuse until 2016 when she caught the defendant with their daughter. The survivor said that that was what made her to leave Lagos to Ibadan with her younger brother and sister,” Orebe said, adding, “When the survivor got to Ibadan, she began teaching in a school but the issue was weighing heavily on her mind.
“She reported the matter to the proprietress of the school, the proprietress in turn directed her to a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). The NGO in turn directed her to the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT), Alausa, Ikeja. The DSVRT sent us a referral letter dated Oct. 19, 2017 and we immediately arrested the defendant. The DSVRT let us understand that they referred the survivor to the Mirabel Center for a medical examination and I saw a report from Mirabel,”the IPO said.
Following the revelation, Boye sought to tender the statement of the defendant into evidence. Mr Worer Obuagbaka, counsel to Oluwaseun, however, objected to the tendering of the statement on the grounds that it was obtained by the police under duress.
Proceedings however, took an interesting turn when Justice Sybil Nwaka, ordered a trial-within-trial to determine the voluntariness of the statement. During the trial-within-trial, Orebe denied forcing Oluwaseun to write his confessional statement. Led in evidence by Boye, the IPO said”I cautioned him before he wrote the statement and I told him he was entitled to legal representation.
“After he wrote his statement, I read the statement aloud to him and he affirmed the contents, he was never handcuffed or chained from Ikorodu to Ikeja. I did not torture, beat, slap or threaten him, he understood the statement when I read it aloud and he signed it.
“My superior officer ASP Abimbola Williams read the statement again to him and he affirmed making the statement and the superior officer signed,” he said. Oluwaseun, however, gave a different version of how his confessional statement was obtained. Led in evidence by Obuagbaka, he said “I was in my house when the police came to arrest me, they told me that I should respect myself and if I do not, they will handcuff me.
“They did not come with a vehicle and I had to pay for a commercial tricycle to take us where their vehicle was and when we got there, they handcuffed me. When we got to the Police Command, they gave me paper and I was told to write what went on between me and my daughter. I was instructed to write what my daughter wrote in her statement, the IPO threatened me and I was shown a pistol. I was never told I had a right to legal representation.
“He slapped me and I was shivering and out of fear, I wrote out that I sucked my daughter’s breast three times,” he said. While being cross-examined by Boye, Oluwaseun told the court that he was physically assaulted by the IPO.
“The IPO gave me a heavy slap, he said if I wrote that I sucked my daughter’s breast three times in my statement, I would be set free,” he said. Countering the defendant’s testimony, Boye queried: “How come out of all the body parts of your daughter, it is her breasts you could write a statement about?
“I put it to you that you did what you were accused of and despite you alleging it to be untrue, you willingly signed the statement.” Oluwaseun, a Technician and a resident of No. 30, Popoola St., Ikorodu, Lagos was arraigned on the Feb. 8 on a two-count charge of defilement and sexual assault.
He however he denied the charges. According to the prosecution, the offences contravene sections 137 and 263 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011. His daughter and alleged victim had on May 23 testified about the abuse which spanned four years (2012-2016) starting when she was 13-years-old
She had revealed to the court that Oluwaseun blackmailed her by refusing to give her and her younger siblings aged five and two years food unless she gave in to his incestuous demands. Justice Nwaka adjourned the case until June 28 for adoption of the final written addresses of the trial-within-trial.
