A Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, has ordered Audu Dare to be held in a detention center for the death of his six-year-old daughter, Ayomide.
According to the charge, the 28-year-old defendant, on February 19, 2022, in Ilawe Ekiti, “reasonably suspected to have murdered his six-year-old daughter, Ayomide, contrary to and punishable under Section 319 (1) of the Criminal Code Cap. C16 Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.”
The mother of the deceased, Eniola Aina, in her statement to the police, said she got married to the defendant some years ago, adding that the marriage was blessed with a child.
She noted that she left Dare’s house four years ago due to his “nonchalant and carefree attitude.”
Aina said, “On the fateful day, he came to my house in Ilawe Ekiti and requested to take out the deceased, which I obliged. He returned the girl around 12am and left. Shortly after that, the deceased began to complain of headache and ache in her private parts. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she told me ‘my father raped me’. She eventually died on the second day.”
Inspector Oriyomi Akinwale, the police prosecutor, who urged the court to remand the defendant, said, “Granting the order will allow the police to complete their investigation and forward the duplicate case file to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for legal advice.”
The Chief Magistrate, Bankole Oluwasanmi, in his ruling, said the defendant “is hereby ordered to be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services, Ado Ekiti , while the case is adjourned till March 23, 2022, for mention.”