A 34-year-old diploma holder, one Samuel Onochie, has been charged before a Tinubu Magistrates’ Court sitting in Lagos for allegedly assaulting a pregnant woman in Jakande, in the Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the state.
Onochie was arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for alleged sexual assault and charged to court by a police prosecutor, Inspector Philip Osijale, on a one count of sexual assault.
The unidentified woman was passing through the area when Onochie ambushed her, The Punch reports.
The suspect reportedly threw the eight-month-old pregnant woman on the floor and stripped her wrapper.
According to reports, the suspect who told the police that he bagged a diploma in law from a university in Benin, Edo State, had dipped his finger into the victim’s private part and was about to penetrate her when a man was drawn to the scene by the woman’s wailing.
The man was said to have held Onochie, while the woman was rushed to the Ilasan Police Division and reported the incident, leading to his arrest.
A police source disclosed that the suspect, as at press time, was yet to explain why he allegedly committed the act.
The police source said, “It is very disturbing that a man could commit such an act, especially with a pregnant woman. As if it was not enough, he did it in broad daylight. He has not been able to tell us why he committed the act.”
The charge against the defendant reads, “That you, Samuel Onochie, 34, on January 24, 2016, at about 6am, at Jakande, Lekki, in the Eti-Osa Local Government Area, within the Lagos Magisterial District, did sexually assault one Esther, by inserting your finger into her private parts, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 259 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.”
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge and elected summary trial before the presiding magistrate, Mr. L.A. Owolabi.
Owolabi granted him bail in the sum of N100, 000 with two sureties in like sum.
He told the prosecutor to send the case file to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for legal advice.
The magistrate said one of the sureties must be related by blood to the defendant, adding that both sureties must have paid three years tax to the Lagos State Government.
Owolabi adjourned the case till March 14, 2016, ordering that the defendant be remanded in prison pending the time he would perfect his bail conditions.
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