Edo State Police Command has arrested a A 39-year-old man, Sunday Ejeh, for allegedly defiling a nine-year-old girl.
The incident happened in the Ugbogi community in Ighobazuwa, the Ovia North West Local Government Area of the state.
Spokesperson of the command, Chidi Nwabuzor, who confirmed the incident on June 11, said the suspect lured the victim to his room, had sexual intercourse with her and gave her N600 after the act.
“An investigation carried out by the Gender Unit of the command’s Criminal Investigation Department revealed that the suspect has a criminal tendency of assembling young girls between two and nine years, and having sexual intercourse with them,” Nwabuzor said.
The PPRO added that the suspect, at the end of the crime, would give his victims N600 to take home.
In an interview with journalists, Ejeh said he only had sexual intercourse with the said nine-year-old girl sometime in January and had not done the same to any other girl in the area.
“The incident happened in January when this girl came to my house and asked that I should give her money and have sexual intercourse with her,” he claimed.
“I said no but she said if I refused to do it, she will shout that I wanted to rape her. So, I agreed and after sleeping with her, I gave her N1, 500 and she left.”
The suspect said the community youths seized him last week when he came back from the farm and started beating him that he raped the girl and later took him to the police station.