There was jubilation in court as a schoolteacher in Lagos, Adewale Bakare, remanded in Kirikiri Maximum prison for alleged sexual abuse of a nine-year-old girl rejoined his family, friends, and colleagues.
The Magistrate Court in Ogba released the suspect after he fulfilled his bail conditions.
Immediately after he stepped out of the courtroom, a jubilant crowd lifted him shoulder high and danced around the premises, singing praise songs.
The crowd also held placards., some of which read ‘False Accusation is a Crime,’ ‘Rescue the Arewa Girls,’ ‘Justice for Adewale Bakare,’ ‘Protect Our Children,’ and ‘No to Weaponised Rape Allegations.’
Mr Bakare’s family eventually took him away.
His lawyer, Toyin Taiwo-Ojo, said that she is battling a “serial accuser.”
“For the first time, I’m fighting not just in the interest of the child but to save an alleged accuser,” she said.
“Because in some of our findings, we have noticed that the father of the child, the complainant, is a serial accuser of innocent people.”
Mrs Taiwo-Ojo, the director of the Advocate for Children and Vulnerable Persons Network (ACVPN), said “our fight is to protect the real victim and not to weaponise rape.
“When the driver was incarcerated, the abuse continued, so if he was the abuser and he was incarcerated, who was then abusing the child?”
A school driver has also been accused and jailed for sexual abuse of the minor.
“We want to unveil the masquerade. We want the court, the judicial system, and the law enforcement agency to unveil the masquerade that has been beating this drum,” the lawyer added.
The court adjourned the matter to Friday.