A 47-year-old man, Eromosele Mahmud, has been arrested by the police in Rivers State for allegedly impregnating his 16-year-old daughter after raping her for five years.

The suspect, a single parent and father of three from the Esako West Local Government Area of Edo State but resident in Port Harcourt, confessed to have been raping the vicitm since she was 12.

Eromosele, who claimed not to know what pushed him to the crime, pleaded that the two-month-old pregnancy of his daughter be nurtured till delivery, adding that he did not subscribe to abortion.

He confessed that his daughter started enjoying the incestuous affair and sometimes forced herself on him.

He said, “This is a battle I have tried to fight over the years and it seems to be much bigger than me. I am not going to withdraw any fact or truth as far as this case is concerned. If this is the only way my daughter can be liberated if I go to prison, then it is good. My happiness is that I am relieved even as I speak to you now.

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“I can’t really remember when it started, but like I told you, it’s more of a spiritual thing. It is very unusual for a father to be sleeping with his own daughter. I am not a party to abortion, so whatever it is, the social welfare people and other government officials involved in this matter know the best way to handle this pregnancy; as a father, I cannot support abortion for my daughter, what if anything happens to her in the process.

“I don’t rape her regularly; it happens once or twice in a year; she used to be very cooperative, even when I don’t want it, she tries to force herself on me.”

On her part, the victim said each time she protested against her father’s act, he would maltreat her and stop paying her school fees and also punish her.

She stated, “It was my father who impregnated me; he started having sex with me when I was 12-year-old till now.

“The first time he came and lay with me on the bed, when I tried to scream, he told me to shut up that my mates were doing the same thing and anytime I refused to allow him, he would not buy anything for me and he would refuse to pay my school fees.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, said the suspect would be charged once investigation was concluded.