Man accused of raping 3-yr-old girl

An Ondo resident identified as Christopher Arigidi has been accused of raping a 3-year-old girl.

Reports say youths of Apata community in the Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State have also accused the suspect of trying to cover up his action.

According to 23-year-old Oshodi Ibeji, who raised an alarm over the incident, the suspect who attended a naming ceremony in the community, took the victim to his house from the occassion and allegedly raped the victim.

Ibeji said; “The suspect and some people were sitting together at the function; all of a sudden, the guy stood up and said he wanted to go and change his cloth at home.

“As he was going, he took the girl along with him; the mother of the victim saw him when he was going.

“When the mother went back home, she did not see her daughter so she went to Argigidi’s house and found out that the girl had been defiled.

“After discovering what happened, she reported to the youths who went to the man’s house to beat him up. He was later taken to the community chairman. He initially denied it but later confessed that he did it.”

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According to the victim’s mother Pouma Ologun, she saw the suspect take her daughter away but she didn’t envisage he had evil intentions.

The victim’s mother said; “When I saw my daughter with Christopher (Arigidi), I asked him where he was going to and he said he wanted to buy something, so I left him alone.

“Later, I went to Christopher’s house to call my daughter, and as she was coming out, she was looking at her clothes. I drew her nearer and I saw oil on her laps, I asked her where she got oil from but she was just looking at me.

“When we got home, I removed her clothes and I saw oil in her private parts too, I called one of my friends who later told me that my daughter had been raped.

“When I asked my daughter who touched her, she mentioned Christopher’s name.”

In a related development, youths in the area have accused the community chairman, Rufus Jagun, of trying to cover up the defilement of a three-year-old girl.

According to Ibeji, the suspect has been released with the help of the community leader but the chairman denied the allegation.

Jagun said; “I was not around when it happened but when I got back, I was told what happened. I told some people to lock him up in a room since we don’t have a police station in our community.

“The decision to take him to a police station lies in the hand of the victim’s father because the nearest police station to our community is very far.”

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