A prosecutor and an Assistant Superintendent of Police, Isaac Aminu, has described as a “family matter” a case in which a 70-year-old man, Bashiru Abiodun, slept with his 14-year-old daughter.
This statement by the police prosecutor left many, including Child Rights Advocates in Lagos State, speechless at the hearing.
The hearing of the case took place at Ikorodu Magistrate Court 1, Ota-Ona, Ikorodu on November 14, 2024.
It was a case of incest and defilement against Abiodun.
The activists were shocked and speechless when Aminu, who ordinarily was expected to know the Child Rights Law, declared in court that what transpired between father and daughter was a “family matter”.
The statement has caused outrage and uproar among child rights organisations.
The Lagos State Government has always been a champion when it comes to protecting children from abuses and expects stakeholders to see the CRA as the major bible to adhere to in the dispensation of justice.
How Wife Caught Perpetrator Defiling Daughter
Two children protection activists: Comrade Tolutope Adeleke, Programmes Officer of Marvelous Grace Foundation, and Comrade Toyin Okanlawon of Advocates for Children and Vulnerable Persons Network, were said to have escalated the matter of Abiodun defiling his daughter by using his finger and actual penetration.
Adeleke and Okanlawon jointly reported the incident to the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Agbowa-Ejirin Division.
While being interviewed by the DPO, the victim said that her father inserted his fingers into her private parts and also fondled her breasts.
She further disclosed that her father also used to have sexual intercourse with her.
The victim’s mother, Bunmi Abiodun, also alleged that her daughter told her that her husband used to have intercourse with her and that after the conversation, she caught him right in the act of sexually violating their child.
Bunmi explained that when she caught Bashiru in the act, there was a heated quarrel, leading to a cold war in the home.
To suppress the argument and render the victim and her mother more vulnerable, Bashiru puts his only house on sale and collected a part payment from the buyer.
He abandoned the house for his wife and children and went to Itu Kosomi Community.
Comrade Okanlawon, who was following up on the case, opined that Bashiru abandoned his matrimonial home, believing it would serve as punishment for his wife and daughter.
He also believed that it would stop the accusation of his daughter and wife against him, he added.
He said: “I was shocked when a policewoman accused the victim’s mother of going to a human rights organisation to report the case, instead of the police station.
“Bashiru’s wife had responded that if the case had been well handled when she first reported at the station, her husband would not have gone to the extent of selling their house, where they all live.
“The policewoman quickly changed the topic of the discussion.”
Okanlawon, while applauding the DPO of Agbowa-Ejirin Division on the professional way in which he handled the case, added that everyone was shocked when one of Bashiru’s friends “came to threaten the victim’s mother.
“Information reaching us has it that the Omo Onile (Land Owners) in the Agbowa community said they would deal with her if Bashiru was not released.”
Okanlawon further recounted: “Even Bashiru claimed to know the Inspector General of Police, stressing that the IGP would set him free.
“Some of Bashiru’s friends and relatives came to the station trying to buy their way, which prompted the Officer-in-Charge of Surveillance to say that the case would be charged to court as indecent assault.
“I told him that it was his job to determine whether there was penetration or not.
“I told him that he should allow JWC to do her job.
“I also made him know that the case has been flagged on a platform where we have all actors on board.
“I also told him that the platform has high-ranking police officers, monitoring rights and wrongdoings.
“He immediately called two other officers and had a silent talk with them.
“Then the JWC woman officer took over the case and eventually charged the perpetrator with indecent assault.
“We also told her we needed to write a statement as nominal complainants until we activists there let the DPO know about the situation.
“Immediately the DPO corrected her, and the needful was done by charging the perpetrator accordingly.
“The victim was taken to the Agbowa General Hospital for medical evaluation and the DPO has also promised the case will be charged to court.
“The DPO doesn’t condone any form of child abuse regardless of who is involved.
“The following day, the perpetrator was charged to court, but the prosecutor and the IPO took him to the chamber, without letting us know.
“We just saw them come out from the chamber side and the prosecutor said that he was granted bail on age and health grounds.
“It was further said that he has partial blindness.
“Why didn’t he consider his blindness when he was defiling his daughter?
“The prosecutor claimed it was a family matter.”
Okanlawon said that on the first day in court, the prosecutor persuaded him to bend on the case, that it was a family matter.
He said: “He told me that I could make peace to resolve the matter and that whatever it might take, I should make it known because if the perpetrator goes to jail, there would not be any left to take care of the children.
“I realised he had been induced so I told him I was an organisational man who needed to give a report back to my organisation and above all, justice must be served.”
Where ACVPN, Prosecutor, and Court Are Now
On November 14, 2024, the case of incest and defilement was heard in Ikorodu Magistrate Court 1, Ota-Ona, Ikorodu.
Okanlawon, who was also in court, reported that the perpetrator was present in court, while his wife stepped out before the case was called.
Okanlawon narrated: “The complainant was asked to stand up for identification.
“I raised my hand, but to my dismay, the Assistant Superintendent of Police, Prosecutor Isaac Aminu, shut me down, saying that I was not a complainant in the matter and that it was a family case.
“I was flabbergasted at his statement and action.
“I then looked around to confirm if I was still in the courtroom.
“He told the magistrate that the perpetrator’s wife was the complainant and that she stepped out a few minutes ago, that the case was a family matter and the case file was yet to be duplicated (Over three months).
“I raised my hand while the magistrate was writing and noting down what the prosecutor said.
“After a while, I stood up again in the court and the attention of the court clerk was drawn to me standing, but I was ignored, noticing some animosity.
“When the magistrate noticed me, she asked me to speak.
“I said my honour, I made the case known to the police when the victim and her mother said they wanted justice, so I took them to the Agbowa-Ejirin Division because they claimed they had one time reported at the same police station, but no action was taken.
“After leading them to the station, they were attended to by the amiable DPO who ordered the perpetrator to be arrested.
“The victim narrated her ugly experience with her father, how he used his finger and manhood to penetrate her.
“The magistrate told the prosecutor to note that Advocates For Children And Vulnerable Persons Network is standing as a complainant/witness in the case, while I gave my name and the organisation I represent.
“I kept wondering how such a matter became a family affair.
“A crime against the state should not and never be termed a family affair.
“I plead with the Directorate of Public Prosecution to help call the prosecutor of Court 1 by name Aminu Isaac to order for peace and justice’s sake.
“The case was adjourned to January 23, 2025.”
After Court Sitting, Threats From Perpetrator’s Wife, Son
Okanlawon further narrated: “One of the sons of the perpetrator called me tonight to threaten me that it won’t be nice if he sees me on the road, that a fight would start between him and me, and his mother.
“The wife of the perpetrator later took the phone and threatened me never to step into the court again otherwise doom would happen.
“She has threatened me with voodoo and all sorts of power at her disposal.
“She was not in the courtroom when I told the magistrate my involvement in the case.
She stepped out then, so the prosecutor must have told her that I came to tackle her and her husband while her son said the case had been resolved by the family, which was in line with what the prosecutor said that it’s a family matter.
“It was a rude shock that Lagos State, which is perceived as a centre of excellence, Ministry of Justice allowed an illiterate, corrupt prosecutor by the name of Isaac Aminu to represent its interest in such a heinous crime.
“We are talking of incest here, which is a crime against the state.
“I want the house to note that I have been heavily threatened by the family of the perpetrator (Abiodun Bashiru).
“We also gathered that Abiodun Bashiru perpetrated the same crime on his first daughter several times.
“He was alleged to have impregnated his first daughter on numerous occasions, of which he conducted a series of abortions on her before he eventually gave her out in marriage.”
The co-founder of ACVPN, Ebenezer Omejalile, reacting to the development in court and the threats from Bashiru’s family, said: “This is heartbreaking!
“How could a prosecutor encourage abnormality by saying this case was a family matter?
“Despite the charge Lagos State Criminal Code section 137 was clearly stated, Prosecutor Isaac Aminu dared to say it was a family matter.
“This is a big slap and disgrace to the Lagos State Ministry of Justice despite so much claim on sensitisation and capacity building of which I am sure this useless prosecutor Aminu would have attended from the various capacity building.
“Going by the narrative, it clearly showed Isaac Aminu is an enabler of rape and this brings us to the foe which calls for urgent arrested development of this case.
“Isaac Aminu as a matter of urgency should not only be withdrawn from this case, he should be posted to the rank and file section as a result of his bad conduct.
“This is the time for the Lagos State Ministry of Justice to purge the various magistrate Courts across Lagos State and weed out corrupt prosecutors from the court.
“Isaac Aminu’s inaction is a rape of justice and this is the reason why the victim’s mother and her elder brother had the guts to threaten a mandated reporter.
“Surely, we will make them understand there’s no ignorance of the law.
“How come the perpetrator is allowed to come from his house?
“This is a serious indictment on the Lagos State Ministry Criminal Justice system because the law respects nobody.
“Abiodun Bashiru should be treated like others who are reminded like others.
“Report has it that prior before now he had almost rendered his first daughter useless with a series of sexual abuse and carried out unlawful abortions before he gave her hand out in marriage.
“This monster should be by now locked up somewhere and the keys thrown away.”
