Terna Taga (alias Orpaka), the man who allegedly raped and impregnated a 10-year-old girl that gave birth to a baby girl in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, has confessed that he actually had carnal knowledge of the little girl twice sometime in December last year.

CEOAFRICA had earlier posted about a pregnant young girl, (name withheld), an orphan who was delivered of a baby girl through Caesarean section on Monday morning in Makurdi was all over the media space.

Responding, Taga who was paraded before newsmen on Thursday by the Benue State Police Commissioner, Garba Mukkadas, insisted that he didn’t rape the girl but what he had with her was a mutual relationship.

Narrating how it all happened, the suspect who claimed he is 17, even though the police insisted he is 18, said he was home one night when the young girl walked up to him and begged him to allow her sleep in his house.

“When I asked her what happened she said her uncle drove her out of the house. Out of pity, I gave her food and allowed her sleep in my room that night but I didn’t touch her that night.

“She left my house in the morning and then came back again in the night saying her uncle still didn’t allow her into his house. I again accommodated her in my room. It was on that second day that I touched her. All together, I slept with her two times. That was in December last year and since then, she hasn’t come to my house again.”

Taga who claimed to be an SS1 drop-out said after that, he made efforts to speak with her on many occasions but each time he sighted the girl, she would run away.

He specifically said sometime in May this year, he saw her with pregnancy and tried to ask her how she came about it but she didn’t give him the opportunity as she took to her heels.

Taga who state that he didn’t think she was a minor while he was sleeping with her, alleged that she wasn’t the one that deflowered her.

“She was not a virgin at all when I slept with her,” Taga emphasised.

He said it was after she delivered that his cousin informed him that she had mentioned his name as the father of her child.

“And because I accepted responsibility as the father of her baby, I then went to the hospital to see her and our baby. It was while I was at the hospital that the police arrested me.

However, Mukkadas while speaking with newsmen said Taga was arrested in connection with the rape of the minor, adding that during investigation, it was discovered that the young girl’s uncle, Iornja, was trying to marry her out to a blind old man when they discovered she was already pregnant.

“One Masenengen “10” years old who is an orphan lived with her uncle one Iorja and was allegedly raped by one Terna Taga ‘m’ 18 years old of North-Bank, Makurdi. The victim became pregnant and has been delivered of a baby girl.

“Investigation reveals that the uncle was making arrangement to marry her out to an old blind man when he discovered that she was pregnant. The uncle is at currently at large. The suspect will soon be charged to court,” the police commissioner stated.

Other suspects were also paraded before newsmen for kidnapping, armed robbery, illegal-arms manufacturing and cultism while several items that were recovered from the suspects were also displayed.