A magistrates’ court sitting in Mararaba, Karu Local Government Area of Nassarawa State, has ordered that a driver, Adamu Umar Dunoma, be remanded in a correctional centre for allegedly sodomising 10 children.
The police prosecutor in the case, Nanzing Wilfred, told the court on Monday that the accused allegedly lured the children aged between four and 12 into a house where he lived, and also to an uncompleted building owned by him, both located at Rugar-Juli area on the outskirts of the town.
Wilfred further told the court that the matter was discovered recently after one of the children fell ill and was taken to a hospital where he confessed that the accused had violated him.
The prosecutor told the court that the offence was contrary to Section 284 of the Penal Code and objected to bail for the defendant based on the nature of the offence.
He added that investigation into the matter was ongoing and that he was waiting for advice from the legal department of the state Ministry of Justice in Lafiya, the state capital.
The accused, a married man with three children, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied committing the crime, even when two of the children reaffirmed the allegation after the Magistrate, Hauwa Onu, asked them to come forward.
The court later adjourned hearing to October 26, 2020, and ordered the accused to be remanded in the Suleja Correctional Centre.