An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court has remanded an Islamic cleric, Morufu Salaudeen, in prison for allegedly defiling his neighbour’s five-year-old daughter.
Salaudeen, 28, who is said to reside on Olushola Street, Agbelekale, Aboru, Lagos, was charged with child defilement.
The court did not take his plea.
Magistrate B.O. Osunsanmi, who gave the order on Wednesday, said that Salaudeen should be remanded at the Kirikiri Prisons, Lagos, pending advice from the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, and adjourned the case until May 1 for mention.
Earlier, the Prosecutor, Insp. Raphael Donny, alleged that the defendant committed the offence on Jan. 19, on Joblanso Street, Aboru, Lagos.
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“The defendant lured the little girl to the backyard and sexually assaulted her and took away her pants,” the prosecutor said.
The offence, according to him, is contrary Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, and is punishable with up to life imprisonment.
Donny said that the girl’s mother reported the case, and the defendant was arrested.