Police arrest teenager for allegedly impregnating 10-year-old

The police in Benue State yesterday confirmed the arrest of 18-year-old Terna Taga for allegedly defiling and impregnating a 10-year-old girl. The news of the minor’s pregnancy had broke on August 4, when she was dumped in a General Hospital, Makurdi by an unknown person.

It was revealed through social media reports that humanitarian activist, Mr. Ukan Kurugh, took the minor to Foundation Memorial Hospital, Makurdi, where she was delivered of a baby girl through Caesarean Section on August 5.

The Benue State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Catherine Anene, told newsmen in Makurdi that the suspect was arrested in North Bank on Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, an Iyaganku Chief Magistrates’ court sitting in Ibadan yesterday ordered that Durodola Kehinde, aged 45, who allegedly raped his 15-year-old daughter, be remanded in prison, pending legal advice. The Senior Magistrate, Mrs. Patricia Adetuyibi, did not take the plea of Kehinde but ordered that he be remanded in Agodi prison. Adetuyibi adjourned the matter until October 8.

ASP Samod Aliu, the Prosecution Counsel, in the charge sheet, alleged that Kehinde raped his 15-year-old daughter between 2017 and 2019. He said the offence contravened the provisions of Section 357 and is punishable under Section 358 of the Criminal Code of Oyo State.

Also, family of the late Ochanya Ogbanje, who died after years of sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated by suspended Benue State lecturer, Andrew Ogbuja and his son, Victor, have accused the suspects of threatening their lives.

The allegation was made yesterday at a press conference organised by members of the late victim’s family and alumni association of the Federal Government Girls’ College, Gboko, Benue.

Speaking at the conference, Ogbanje’s elder brother, John Ameh, said a sibling of Ogbuja’s wife, Inalegwu Ochiga, who is a prison officer, had threatened to kill him during a previous hearing of the matter at the court premises.

“Another worrying dimension to the trial of Ogbuja is the consistent threats, bullying and harassment of my family, which had been on even before the case came into public consciousness. The most recent of such sad incidents occurred on April 9, 2019, when one of the younger siblings of the accused’s wife, Mr. Inalegwu Ochiga, openly assaulted me at the premises of the Federal High Court in Makurdi, Benue. He threatened to kill me if I continued with championing the cause that justice be served in Ochanya’s case.”

He also asked the Benue State government and the police to intensify efforts toward ensuring that the young Ogbuja, who has been missing since the incident became public in July 2018, is apprehended by the police.