Lagos cleric who blamed ‘spell’ for raping five-year-old gets life imprisonment

The Executive Secretary, Domestic and Sexual Violence agency (DSVA) Mrs TitiLola Vivour-Adeniyi, has reiterated the government’s resolve to ensure the menace of all forms of Sexual and gender-based violence cases becomes totally eradicated from society with the sentencing /conviction of Alfa Abdulsalam Salaudeen to life imprisonment.

In a statement, on Thursday, Vivour-Adeniyi maintained the need for parents and guardians to remain vigilant and ensure that they strengthen their relationship with their children, empower children on body safety, set boundaries and encourage them to always speak up and speak out so that cases of child sexual abuse would be prevented.

She also urged residents to report cases as Lagos State has provided holistic care for survivors at no cost.

Vivour-Adeniyi further intimated that the state government had also recently upgraded five more police stations as Family Support Units FSUs. These designated police stations which has trained Police Personnel are responsible for investigating incidents that pertained to Domestic and Sexual related cases in Lagos..

She also revealed that the Agency also recently trained State Prosecutors and Police Prosecutors to better equip them towards better adjudication of justice.

Justice A. O Soladoye of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court 41 High Court of Lagos State, Ikeja on Wednesday sentenced Salaudeen to life Imprisonment and ordered his name to be registered in the Sex Offenders Register.

While giving her verdict Justice Soladoye described Salaudeen as an unworthy clergy who must be weeded out of society to serve as a deterrence to other perpetrators of defilement to zip up and desist from assaulting minors.

It could be recalled that in 2019, Abdulsalam Salaudeen, a 43-year-old Islamic cleric in Igando, Lagos State, was arrested for allegedly raping his five-year-old Arabic schoolgirl. Prior to Police investigation, he denied the allegation but owned up to committing the crime when confronted with a video evidence of him defiling the child by penetrating her anus and private parts.

Salaudeen, who is married with five children and well-respected in the community, blamed the crime on the handiwork of his enemies who he said had cast a spell on him.