Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested an Islamic cleric, Abdulsalam Salaudeen, for allegedly defiling a five-year-old girl in Lagos.
The 43-year-old cleric, who was supposed to be teaching the victim Islamic studies, was said to have been caught having carnal knowledge of her through a video footage that was reportedly presented to the state Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi.
The Police Public Relations Officer for the state, CSP Chike Oti, said in a statement on Wednesday that Imohimi, who was saddened by the incident, dispatched undercover operatives, who arrested the culprit and handed him over to the gender section for detailed investigation.
Oti said, “On Friday, December 28, 2018, a good Nigerian visited the headquarters of the Lagos State Police Command with a video evidence of an Islamic cleric, aka Alfa, who was having Ana! sex with a five-year-old girl that he was supposed to be teaching Islamic studies. The complainant sought audience with the state Commissioner of Police.
“The CP, after watching the heart-rending video, directed the command’s undercover operatives attached to the State Intelligence Bureau to immediately arrest the culprit and hand him over to the gender section for a detailed investigation. The operatives went in search of the cleric and arrested him near a mosque in the Igando area of the state.
“He was taken from there to the gender unit, where the officer-in-charge, ASP Abimbola Williams, confronted him with the video footage of him defiling the child by penetrating her Anu$ and private parts. Upon seeing himself captured like an actor in a movie, the suspect broke down in tears and owned up to the crime. He later gave his name as Abdulsalam Salaudeen, a 43-year-old man and resident at 16 Awoyemi Street, Igando Road, Ikotun, Lagos.”
Oti said the case would be charged to court as soon as the investigation was concluded, adding that the CP, while commending the courageous act of the informant, warned parents and guardians to keep constant watch over their children and wards as nobody could be trusted.
