Court jails 36-year-old widow for brutalising minor in Ondo

A widow and mother-of-four, Opeyemi Omoyemi, who brutalised her 12-year-old house help, has been sentenced to four-and-half years in prison by an Akure Magistrate Court.

Omoyemi was arraigned yesterday on a five-count charge for lacerating the minor, Joel Sunday, with razor blade for stealing meat from her pot the last week.

She was said to have committed the offence at her residence located at Idimango Adewale area of Ondo Road.

The convict was arraigned and she pleaded guilty to the charge. The prosecutor reviewed the facts and she was convicted and sentence to three-and-half years imprisonment with hard labour on count one charge bothering on grievous harm, while she bagged one-year imprisonment on count five bordering on child abuse.

The Prosecution Counsel, ASP Emmanuel Tanimowo, during the trial, applied for the withdrawal of count four that borders on attempted murder, which was granted by the Magistrate, Mrs O.A Edwin.

The defence counsel, Folusho Kayode, pleaded with the court to be lenient in passing the sentence, due to the fact that the defendant was a first time offender.

He also informed the court that Omoyemi who is a mother-of-four little children had been the one responsible for the welfare of the victim.

He said: “The prayer for leniency is that the defendant has been the one solely responsible for the wellbeing and education of the victim. She has been doing this dutifully for the past four years since the death of her husband.

The defendant has kids and they have been crying since the incident happened, as they could not see their mother. The defendant is a first offender and has never been arrested for any inhumane behaviour. The court should graciously pass the sentence.”

Magistrate Edwin, while passing the sentence, which will run concurrently, said: “I know that the defendant is a first time offender but the facts of the offences are not only an abuse on the victim but an offence against public policy. The sentence must therefore deter others and also ensure that justice is done to the victim.”

The Magistrate thereafter pronounced the sentence and adjourned the case till April 13, 2022 for trial in count three of the charge bothering on trafficking in persons, which the defendant had pleaded not guilty.

Holding a brief for International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Ondo State Chapter, Catherine Ogunjebi, said: “We are grateful that justice has been served to the victim and for the society. We are also grateful for the time that the defendant did not waste. She pleaded guilty and it was faster for us to have arrived at this conclusion. We are equally impressed because it is not a long sentence. She will be reunited with her children in due course as we know she also has children who are now in the custody of Women Affairs at the Children Home for proper care.”

The FIDA representative stressed that it is wrong for her to have had two children, 12 years and 10 years in her custody for the purpose of domestic help. This, she said is against the Child Right Law of Ondo State and Child Right Act 2003 of Nigeria.