A Magistrate Court sitting in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, has remanded a 48-year-old man, Adamu Umaru, in a correctional centre for raping and impregnating his 15-year-old daughter.

Umaru was remanded by Chief Magistrate Mercy Ene following hearing on exparte motion filed by the police prosecutor, O. S Umoren, on Friday, November 22, 2024.

Umoren said the exparte motion became necessary for the defendant to remain in prison until the completion of an investigation on the matter.

The prosecutor said the motion was pursuant to Section 4 of the Police Act, 2020 and also the Cross River State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2016.

The motion was, however, opposed by the defence counsel, Mohammed Shaibu, with the argument that he had not duly served the motion before the arraignment of his client.

The Chief Magistrate subsequently granted the motion supported by an eight-paragraph affidavit and adjourned the case until December 3.

The Zone 6 Police Command in Cross River State had, on Thursday, November 21, paraded Umaru for allegedly defiling and impregnating his 15-year-old daughter.

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The command’s spokesperson, SP Nelson Okpabi, told newsmen that the man was arrested on November 15, based on a petition by the victim’s aunt, identified simply as Aisha.

Okpabi disclosed that the petitioner had stated that she noticed the changes in the girl’s physiology and took her to the hospital, where the test that was conducted confirmed her to be nine weeks pregnant.

The police spokesman said the girl, in her statement, alleged that her father was responsible for her pregnancy.

Okpabi added: “Her father started having illicit affairs with her in 2023 in a hotel located in Calabar and threatened to kill her should she reveal this to anybody.

“She was further examined by a medical doctor in the Police hospital, Calabar and the result validated the earlier report submitted by her aunt.

“The manager of the hotel in his statement also admitted that he had seen the suspect severally with the victim in the hotel booking temporary accommodation, but never knew she was his daughter.”

The Star