The orphanage
Two
weeks after the arrest of Director of Light of Hope Orphanage, Mr.
Olatayo Atunde, the police are set to prosecute the case at the Ota
Magistrate’s Court, Ogun State on Friday (today).
Atunde was accused of rape by two minors
aged 13 and 14, living at his orphanage. He was subsequently arrested
and later released on bail.
Project Alert, a non-governmental
organisation on violence against women, had petitioned the Zone 2
Command on the issue after some officials of a private secondary school,
where the minors are students, reported the case to them.
A medical report from the Lagos
University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, had confirmed that the vaginal
hymens of the girls were no longer intact.
PUNCH Metro gathered that on
Thursday, a meeting was held at the Zone 2 Police Command comprising
representatives of Project Alert, Atunde, his lawyer and representatives
of the minors’ school.
A lawyer to Project Alert, Mr. Benjamin
Odeh, said, “All the parties met and after investigators said they would
arraign Atunde in court, they detained him again.
“They wanted to make sure that he would
not abscond since the arraignment was to take place the next day
(Friday). As I speak with you, he is still in their office.
Currently, the Ogun State Ministry of Women Affairs has begun its investigation into the case.
The ministry advised Atunde to stay away from the orphanage which cares for about 79 orphans.
The state government, in a statement
last week, had said, “It is only fair that Atunde stay away from the
orphanage to prevent interference with investigation or obstruction of
justice.”
The orphanage, which also doubles as
Atunde’s family home, has been in operation since 1996. Now, 22 children
live at the orphanage with another 11 away, running programmes at
various universities in the country.
The Zone 2 Police Public Relations
Officer, Mr. Femi Balogun, could not be reached for comments as his
telephone indicated it was switched off.
PUNCH
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