An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in Lagos has ordered a 36-year-old pastor, Pope Paul, to be remanded in Kirikiri following allegations of defiling and impregnating a 15-year-old girl.
Magistrate B.O Osunsanmi on Wednesday did not take the defendant’s plea.
She ordered that Mr Paul should be kept behind bars pending the receipt of legal advice from the State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Paul, a resident of Egan, Igando, Lagos, is being tried for defilement.
The court heard that the alleged offence was committed between January and February at the pastor’s residence.
Police prosecutor, Ezekiel Ayorinde, said the defendant severally had sexual intercourse with the girl who came to spend holiday with his family.
“On returning to her parents, after spending holiday with Paul, the girl’s mother discovered that she was pregnant.
“When her mother queried her, the victim told her that the defendant made love to her on several occasions,” Mr Ayorinde told the court.
He added that the victim’s mother reported the case before the defendant was arrested.
The alleged offence, he said, violated Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The case has been adjourned until August 7 for mention.
