By Boluwatife Ezekiel Olaleye
A 27-year-old man, Lawal Abubakar, has told a Kubwa Grade 1 Area Court in Abuja, that a 12-year-old girl he abducted was his girlfriend.
Mr. Abubakar of Byazhin, Kubwa, Abuja, pleaded guilty to charges of abduction and gross indecency of a minor leveled against him, but said the girl was his girlfriend.
He told the court that the girl came to his house to inform him that her parents had travelled.
He said he took her back to her parent’s house, discovered that they were not around, and decided to keep her in his house for two days.
Abubakar further admitted having s*xual intercourse with the minor while she was in his place.
The Judge, Mohammed Marafa, convicted him and ordered that he be remanded in police custody.
Mr. Marafa adjourned the case until Dec. 21, for sentencing.
The prosecutor, Babajide Olanipekun, had told the court that another man, Abah Timothy of Byazhin Across, Kubwa, Abuja, reported the matter at the Kubwa Police Station on Dec. 12.
Mr. Olanipekun said the convict tricked the complainant’s 12-year-old daughter by inducement to his house and kept her for three days.
He further said Mr. Abubakar had s*xual intercourse with the minor, adding that the offence contravened Sections 272 and 285 of the Penal Code.
The defence counsel, Moses Ugwummadu, urged the court to temper justice with mercy.
He said however that the parents of the girl were negligent to stay for days without knowing the whereabouts of their 12-year-old daughter.