A Makurdi, Benue State Magistrates’ Court on Thursday ordered a 20-year-old trader, Suleiman Usman, who allegedly defiled a 13-year-old girl, to be remanded in a correctional centre, pending legal advice.
Usman was charged by the police with defilement, punishable under the provisions of Section 284 of the Penal Code of Benue, 2004.
The presiding Magistrate J.O. Ayia, did not take Usman’s plea, for lack of jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
Ayia ordered the police to return the case file to the Benue State Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice; and thereafter adjourned the matter until November 20, for further mention.
The prosecution counsel, ASP Michael Iorundu, had earlier told the court that the complainant, Salamatu Isah, reported the matter at the ‘A’ Division Police Station, Makurdi on October 4, 2020.
He added that the complainant, who is also the victim’s mother, sent her daughter on an errand on October 4, but on her way, Usman dragged her into his room and defiled her.
Iorundu said that investigation into the matter was still ongoing and asked for an adjournment.
