An Ekiti State Chief Magistrate Court, sitting in Ado Ekiti on Friday ordered the remand of a 63-year-old man, Pastor Banji Olajiga, his 57-year-old wife, Victoria and 31-year-old daughter, Sikemi, in the custodial centre over the death of a neighbour’s seven-year-old daughter, Demilade Fadare.
They were arraigned by the police on one charge bordering on murder and negligence.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Bamikole Olasunkanmi, told the court that “the defendants were on the 6th of December, 2021 reasonably suspected to have committed offence of murder and negligence, leading to the death of seven-year-old Demilade Fadare in Adehun Area of Ado Ekiti.
“The offences run contrary to sections 319 (1) and 343 of the Criminal Code Cap. C16, Laws of Ekiti State 2012,” he said.
According to him, the father of the deceased, Oluwasola Fadare, had in his statement to the police, said that “after searching for Demilade, who went to buy pap for their breakfast on the fateful day, they got the information at the police station that the body of the girl was found in their neighbour’s house in a cooler with trace of her blood on the floor”.
The prosecutor urged the court to remand the defendants pending legal advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecution.
The Chief Magistrate, Michael Faola, who granted the request of the prosecutor, said, “The defendants are hereby ordered to be remanded in the Nigeria Correctional Centre pending issuance of legal advice from office of DPP”
