In an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, a 61-year-old pastor revealed on Wednesday that his tenant, Godwin Emmanuel, had allegedly defiled and impregnated his 16-year-old daughter.
Emmanuel was brought before the court by the Lagos State government on a single count of defilement, to which he pleaded not guilty. The prosecution claimed that Emmanuel had defiled the pastor’s daughter between April and July 2021 in the Ajangbadi area of Badagry, a violation of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State.
Following Emmanuel’s not guilty plea, state counsel, Ms Abimbola Abolade, called the pastor as a witness to testify before the court. The pastor informed the court that Emmanuel, his tenant, was known to him through an estate agent and that he had known Emmanuel for three to four years. His daughter identified Emmanuel as the person responsible for her pregnancy, alleging that he had been having sexual relations with her.
The pastor reported the case to the police, specifically at Area K Police Station in Badagry, where his daughter confirmed the accusations, leading to her pregnancy and the birth of a female child.
Under cross-examination by the defence counsel, Mr. Victor Edet, the pastor couldn’t recall the exact date of his report to the police. However, he later reported the case at the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency and at a medical center when the police did not act on his complaint. The pastor was convinced that it was Emmanuel who impregnated his daughter after Emmanuel’s wife, a nurse, allegedly provided drugs to his daughter for an abortion.
The pastor also disclosed that during one of the sexual encounters, the condom in use broke. Emmanuel advised his daughter to shift responsibility to a third person he introduced.
The case was adjourned for further hearing to December 11 by Presiding Justice Abiola Soladoye.