An Imam in Aranka community, Ede, Osun State has confessed to defiling his neighbour’s 8-year-old daughter.
He was arrested by the police for allegedly raping the child after mother of the victim raised alarm and attracted an angry mob.
She reportedly caught the Imam, identified as Kadiri, in the act, Saturday afternoon.
The victim’s mother was reportedly worried about the safety of her child after she took too long to return from an errand, and decided to look for her, when she found her in a mosque with the elderly suspect.
Arike Adisa, a student of the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, who witnessed the incident said the mother’s alarm attracting a crowd to the Babasanya area.
“She actually caught the man named Abdulkareem Kadiri, an Imam in a mosque around the area. The mother said her daughter was crying and was bleeding from her private part,” she said.
Adisa narrated, “Some persons attempted to let the suspect get away but angry residents resisted it. The victim was taken to Babasanya Hospital for appropriate medical test.
“Because of the tension around the hospital, operatives of Amotekun were invited to arrest the suspect before he was later handed over to the police at ‘B’ Division, Ede.”
A video of the Imam which surfaced on social media later showed him confessing at the police station that he had canal knowledge of the girl.
“I know her parents, we lived in the same compound. I sent her to help me buy groundnuts and when she returned I defiled her,” he said.