A man whose identity is yet to be ascertained has been taken into custody by police operatives for allegedly luring a 10-year-old girl with N2,000 and defiling her in the Opako area of Adigbe, Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.

PUNCH Metro gathered from a source who pleaded anonymity on Sunday that the incident happened on Saturday when the suspect allegedly booked a room in the hotel and informed the receptionist he was expecting his child.

The receptionist however became suspicious after discovering a used condom in the hotel room after the suspect and the victim had left the hotel prompting the receptionist to raise the alarm about the incident.

The source said, “Just this evening, a man came to one hotel at Adigbe, Abeokuta, booked a short-term room, and pretended he’d be expecting a child soon. Long story short, he had sex with a 10-year-old girl and gave her N2,000.

“Some residents claimed he’d been doing similar things in the past. Those within the compound of the hotel didn’t even hear noise, but the hotel receptionist raised the alarm after she saw a used condom in the toilet.

“There are reports that he had been doing it with the girl before now. Information has it that the man had been picked up by the police and the young girl has narrated what happened.”

The source added further that police officers, on Sunday, locked the hotel.

Confirming the incident, a senior police officer in the area noted that when the officer from the division closest to the hotel visited the scene, they gathered that the suspect had been taken into custody by some officers whom the mother of the victim had reported to.

The officer added that the division had commenced an investigation on the matter.

“We have visited the scene and we gathered that it happened. The mother of the victim was said to have reported to some security operatives who were the ones that arrested the suspect,” the senior officer said.

Meanwhile, when our correspondent contacted the command’s Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, on Sunday, she said she had yet to be informed of the matter.

“I have not heard it. I am not aware,” she said in a terse message.

PUNCH Metro reported on March 21 that a Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja convicted and sentenced a man, Dennis Okubiat, to 20 years imprisonment for raping a 12-year-old girl for three months, which caused urinary incontinence.

Justice Ismail Ijelu held that the victim had testified that she went for evangelism and, in the process, went to check on the convict, who had not been coming to church after the pastor of her church said they should visit members who had not been seen in church for some time.

PUNCH