A mother of four, Halifat Ibrahim, yesterday took to the witness box to defend her husband, Wasiu Ibrahim, who was accused of raping her 15-year-old niece before an Ikeja Special Offences and Domestic Violence Court, Lagos.
Halifat, who was brought in as the 4th prosecution witness to testify against her 35-year-old husband, turned around to defend him and was determined in proving his innocence.
While led in evidence by the State prosecuting counsel, B. T. Boye, the mother of four maintained that her husband of twenty years of marriage would never commit such an atrocity and that he is innocent of all the allegations against him.
The witness said, “I know the defendant and he is my husband. We have been married for twenty years and blessed with four lovely children. My first child is 13 years of age and we all live in a one room apartment.
“I and my husband and our 13-year-old daughter sleep on the same bed, while my niece and the other children sleep on the floor. He will never do such a thing to my little niece, ” she maintained.
Halifat, a hairdresser, told the court that she loves her husband and would do anything to get him out of prison.
Wasiu, who is currently in prison custody, was arraigned for allegedly defiling his wife’s niece (names withheld) at their one room apartment located at No 59, Abeokuta Street, Ogba.
According to the charge, the incident occurred on the 25th of January 2017.
Narrating further, Halifat said, “I travelled on the day of the incident leaving my niece at home with my husband alongside our four children.
“When i rerurned from my journey, I was summoned to my niece’s school by the Proprietress who said that the girl claimed that my husband raped her while I was away.
“I put a call to my husband who was at work at the time. He denied raping her and even volunteered to accompany me to the school. When we got there, he was arrested and the matter was charged to court,” she said.
Halifat, however, denied that her husband had raped her niece before as alleged by the victim in her statement to the police.
When asked if she knew the whereabouts of the victim so as to bring her to testify also, the woman said she has no idea where the victim could be hiding.
“After the incidence, she was taken from me and placed in an orphanage. I have not been able to gain access to her since then. She gave me a fake number and I don’t know where she is. She is my sister’s daughter and I am truly concerned about her well-being, ” she said.
After listening to her testimony, Boye asked the court to mark the witness as a “hostile witness” for failing to collaborate with the prosecution in prosecuting it’s case.
Justice Sybil Nwaka thereafter adjourned the matter till January 19 for continuation of trial.
