On Monday, Uchenna Edom, a man accused of defiling his 10-year-old cousin, had his bail plea dismissed by an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court.
Following his arraignment, Edom reportedly entered a not guilty plea to a charge of defilement, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
In his decision, Justice Rahman Oshodi stated that even if the defendant’s case was unproven, it was nevertheless significant.
Furthermore, I don’t think he will agree to appear in court.
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“I hereby order an accelerated hearing and his bail application is hereby denied, in the interest of justice on the part of the defendant,” he declared.
The trial was postponed to February 12, 2024 by the judge.
Prior to this, the defendant’s defence attorney, Mr. A.O. Afuye, asked the court to give the defendant bail in the interest of justice in a bail application he filed on November 11th.
In his sixteen-paragraph affidavit, Afuye begged the court to give bail to the prisoner while the case was being decided.
“Until a suspect is proven guilty, they are presumed innocent.
He stated, “Even though the alleged survivor is his cousin, the defendant has promised in the bail application to make himself available for trial and will not interfere with the course of justice.”
In her 13-paragraph counter-affidavit dated Nov. 20 and filed the same day, the state attorney, Ms. Bukola Okeowo, stated that the court would determine whether to grant bail.
According to Okeowo, the defendant had not provided a convincing argument for why he ought to be released on bond.
“In order to prevent the defendant from interfering with the prosecution’s witnesses, we implore the court to deny the defendant’s request for bail,” she stated.
Okeowo had already informed the court that the prosecution planned to present four witnesses.
According to the prosecutor, the defendant allegedly committed the crime at Isolo Lagos in July 2022.
The prosecution claimed that the defendant had slept with his cousin, who is ten years old, without permission.
The prosecution said that the accused offence violated Section 137 of the Lagos State 2015 Criminal Laws, which carries a life sentence in the event of a conviction.
