A 53-year-old landlord, identified as Sanni Arowolo, has regained his freedom after he was falsely accused of impregnating his tenant’s 14-year-old daughter.
Arowolo was arraigned before a court by State Prosecutor, Ms. Saidat Fashola, over allegations of raping and impregnating the minor in her mother’s shop in February 2019.
The prosecution accused him of forcefully having carnal knowledge of the victim in the shop he rented out to her mother.
The case has been in court since 2019 and the suspect had been facing trial before a DNA test was conducted to confirm the paternity of the child born by the teenager.
In the sitting at the Ikeja Special Offences Court on Wednesday, May 11, Justice Sherifat Solebo discharged and acquitted the landlord, stating that the prosecution did not prove the case of defilement beyond a reasonable doubt.
She also noted that it’s not possible for the landlord to have impregnated the minor, because the DNA result showed zero probability of him fathering the child.
“The prosecution was unable to establish anything that the defendant committed the offence and that was why the court ordered a DNA test.
The court received the report of the DNA through an email and physically through a courier.
The result of the DNA test showed zero probability. The alleged father lack genetic pattern that can lead to the fact that he impregnated the survivor.
This man here standing trial before the court may not have been the one that impregnated the child and could not have been the one that defiled her.
The man in the dock is hereby discharged and acquitted” the judged ruled.
Arowolo was said to have broken down in tears after the judge gave her ruling.
