There was a mild drama at an Ilorin magistrate court on Wednesday as father of an allegedly gang raped seventeen year old teenager ran away with his daughter.
It was gathered that the father brought the girl to court so that she could testify against her cousin, Omotosho Yahaya, and two others who conspired to abuse her sexually.
Meanwhile, Police First Information Report (FIR) revealed that the first defendant, (Yahaya) allegedly lured his cousin to his friends house; Mustapha Ridwan and Mustapha Ahmed where they committed the crime.
To the amazement of many, the victim’s father suddenly ran out of court and jumped on a standby motorcycle with his daughter then, zoomed off.
Frantic efforts made by security operatives who immediately swung into action and chased the duo could not yield any success as they disappeared into thin air.
Speaking with newsmen after the court session, the director of Child, Ministry of Women Affairs, Mariam Yusuf, who was watching brief with members of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), assured that the father and his daughter will surely be arrested before the next adjourned date.
In her words, “the rape case was reported in our office yesterday(Monday), we had joined them in court today (Tuesday), when we interrogated the victim, we suspected she had been intimidated and threatened to turn the story around. She said she was not actually raped but molested. In a bid to revenge the assault, she lied against the culprits.
“When the hearing commenced, the culprits’ lawyer applied for bail but it was refused. Surprisingly, when Magistrate wanted to give ruling, the girl jumped up and ran away with her father. The action established the fact that she was raped but doesn’t want to tell the truth. The FIDA has taken it up, the father will be arrested and definitely, he will be able to produce the victim.”
Magistrate Afusat Alege, in his ruling, adjourned the matter to 29th of this month.
