by Adeola Balogun

A middle aged man in Oyo, who was arrested but denied raping his 13-year-old ward, has been re-indicted after another girl who was under his care confirmed the allegations.

Owolabi Fola was arrested for sexually assaulting the teenage girl but he claimed that he had only fondled her and even that was because he was under the influence of alcohol.

[READ: Blame it on the alcohol: ‘Tipsy’ 48-year-old man sexually assaults girl, 13]

However, a 12-year-old  girl who also lived with Mr. Fola is said to have alleged that the suspect had sexual intercourse with her and a 17-year-old claimed that he tried to have sex with her but she rejected his advances.

The Tribune reports:

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Mohammed Indabawa, who spoke with Crime Reports, said that investigations revealed that the man had engaged in sex with the girls who were staying in his house. They were said to have been kept in his custody by their parents who wanted him to help fix them up with families who would help put them in schools.

Two out of the three girls (names withheld), aged 12 and 13 respectively, who testified against the suspect told Crime Reports that he had at different times had penetrative sex with them, thus puncturing his lie that his manhood was not functioning. The third girl, a 17-year-old, also said he made attempts to have sex with her but she rejected his overtures.

The 12-year-old girl, who is a primary five pupil, disclosed that she was brought to the suspect by her mother “and I stayed with him before he gave me out a year ago to the woman I am now staying with. While I was with him, he used to sleep with me and I can’t count the number of times. The first time was when he came to me at midnight and removed my underpants. He slept on me and inserted his penis into me. He released semen into me each time he had sex with me.”

When confronted by the account of the girls, Fola admitted all they said, saying that all he pleaded for was mercy, as he realised that he did the wrong thing.

The suspect was however charged to Iyaganku Chief Magistrates’ Court 1, Ibadan, on Monday, February 17 on a three-count charge of rape, defilement and indecent assault. The Chief Magistrate presiding over the court, Alhaja Fatimah Badrudeen did not take his plea but ordered that he should be remanded in Agodi prisons while his case was adjourned till March 18.