A motorcycle rider, Ubong Ime, took incest to a new height when he professed love to his daughter whom he allegedly raped and impregnated.

It was gathered that the incident happened in the Iju area of Lagos State.

Our correspondent learnt that the 15-year-old victim lived with her mother in Uyo until in 2015 when the father, who had remarried, brought her to Lagos.

Ime, who was arrested by policemen from the Iju Police Station, said he was in love with the victim, adding that he slept with her twice.

He said, “Sometime in June 2018, my wife informed me that my daughter was pregnant after which we both called her to ask who was responsible for the pregnancy. She did not say anything, but I knew that I was the one who impregnated her and it happened in June. I fell in love with her and had sex with her two times.”

The victim, however, said her father first raped her on a day her stepmother stopped her from going to school after accusing her of stealing.

She said her father, who pretended to be punishing her, had sex with her.

She said, “My stepmother always accused me of stealing her money and most times she beat me up. Sometime in June, my stepmother accused me of stealing her N200 and because of that, she said I should not go to school.

“While I was doing the house chores, my daddy brought out a wire and started beating me. As he was beating me, he ordered me to sit on the bed and remove my pants. I initially refused, but as he continued beating me, I obeyed him and he raped me. As I was shouting, one of my neighbours came to knock on our door, but he told him that he was punishing me.

“After the sex, he told me that I should not tell anybody. He was the one that washed the clothes I was supposed to wash that day while I slept. After some time, I woke up and took my bath. I did not tell my stepmother anything.

“Then in July 2018, before we started our examination, my stepmother said I should not go to school. My dad went out in the morning and came back in the afternoon. As of then, I was sleeping on the bed. I suddenly noticed that someone laid on me. Before I knew it, he had sex with me again, making it twice. He still warned me not to tell anybody what happened between us.”

The victim said when she missed her period in July, her stepmother asked her if she had sex with anyone, but she denied it.

She said she confessed to her stepmother when it was confirmed that she was two months pregnant.

“When my stepmother reported to my daddy that I looked pregnant, he said I should lie to her that I was raped by someone in a hotel. My stepmother continued disturbing me and made me do a pregnancy test. She told me that I was two months’ pregnant.

“When everybody on the street became aware that I was pregnant, I decided to tell my stepmother the truth. My daddy was the first man that had sex with me. No other person had done it with me before or after him,” she said.

The victim’s half-brother, David, said he had caught his father many times having sex with his sister.

The 12-year-old said, “There was a day that I came back from school and I met daddy on top of her. Daddy used to have sex with her even in the night if our mummy is not at home. I used to see them together on our bed if our mummy is not at home.”

Ime was arraigned before an Ogba Magistrates’ Court on one count of defilement.

The police prosecutor, Inspector John Christopher, said the offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2015.

The charge read in part, “That you, Ubong Ime, in June 2018, at about 12pm on Olushina Street, Isale Haruna, Obawole, Lagos State, in the Ikeja Magisterial District, did defile your daughter (name withheld) aged 15….”

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The presiding magistrate, P. E. Nwaka, remanded the suspect in custody.

The case was adjourned till October 3, 2018.

*PUNCH Metro