A teenager accused of raping and impregnating a 15-year old girl in Lagos has told investigators that it was not totally his fault as the girl seduced him and he could no longer control himself after resisting her for a long time.

“The girl seduced me, but I initially resisted it. It came to a stage I could no longer hold it and we had sex. I was afraid to report the issue, but it later led to pregnancy,” the suspect, 17-year old Opeyemi Odujobi told police, the Punchng.com reported.

But the victim, name withheld, told policemen investigating the matter that the suspect sneaked into her side at 11 pm one night in September last year, and forcefully had sex with her.

“One night I was sleeping when Opeyemi (Odujobi) came to meet me and raped me. On that day, I saw bloodstain on my clothes and I felt pain in my body,” she said.

“I told my grandpa that I was not feeling good. He gave me medicine and I was alright. I did not know I was pregnant until I went to my father’s place. It was my stepmother who discovered the pregnancy.”

Odujobi had sex with the Junior Secondary School 3 pupil in September 2015 on Ayoola Street, in the Abule-Egba area of Lagos, where both of them live in the same house.

The Punchng.com reported that the victim has been living with her grandfather identified as Richard for years while Odujobi joined them about a year ago after his parents reportedly had a disagreement, which severed their relationship. It was not clear whether suspect and victim are related by blood.

Statistics show that cases of rape often occur among people living in the house, environment or people who know each other very well. On very rare occasions do people come from outside to commit rape crimes on people they do not know.

With lack of proof, suspects often go unpunished and complicated, lengthy legal procedures and the shame associated with rape often discourage victims who end up dumping the matter altogether and moving on with their lives, although with pain in their hearts.

In the latest case, with both suspect and victim being teenagers, and with the incident taking place more than five months ago, proving a rape case may be a tough test for the police who arraigned Odujobi before an Ikeja Magistrate’s Court sitting in Ogba on a one count of rape.

A police prosecutor, Inspector Benedith Aigbokan, who brought the defendant before the presiding Chief Magistrate, Mr. Tajudeen Elias, said the offence was punishable under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.

The charge read, “That you, Odujobi Opeyemi (17), sometime in the month of September 2015, at about 11pm on Ayoola Street, Awori bus stop, Abule-Egba, Lagos, in the Ikeja Magisterial District, did defile a girl, aged 15, by inserting your penis into her private parts, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2011.”

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge and elected summary trial.

The presiding magistrate granted him bail in the sum of N250,000, with two responsible sureties in like sum, adding that one of the sureties must be a relation of the defendant, while the other must be a reputable community member. The case was adjourned till March 2, 2016.