The police in Lagos state have arrested a 40-year-old man, Gbenga Taiwo, for allegedly defiling his 15-year-old daughter under the pretext he wanted to check if she was still a virgin.
According to reports, Taiwo who is a widower, lived in a rented apartment at Baruwa, Ipaja area of Lagos State with his daughter. He allegedly started molesting his daughter when she was 13 years old.
The Coordinator of a child rights group, Advocates for Children and Vulnerable Persons Network, Ebenezer Omejalile, who has been following up with the case, told City Round that the victim got tired of the abuse and reported to her landlord who cautioned her father but he refused to stop.
“The girl said she had been constantly abused by her father since she was 13. He is about 40 years old and a retired electricity worker. Before the intervention of the girl’s maternal uncle, one Mr Alagba, the girl got tired of the wickedness of her father and informed their landlord who confronted the father to stop the evil act and he let him know the consequence of his action.
But the suspect turned a deaf ear to it and kept doing it to the extent that whenever he was on night duty, he went to the office with girl to keep having her to his satisfaction. The man claimed that he saw some pictures in his daughter’s phone and suspected that she was wayward. He said he did not have sex with her but only used his finger to check if she is a virgin or not.”
Family members of the suspect claim he is mentally unstable and was checked into a private rehabilitation center in Ise Oluwa Hospital in Abeokuta, Ogun State in 2018.
Confirming his arrest, the spokesperson of the state police command, Bala Elkana, said a test would be carried out to determine the mental state of the suspect.
