53-year-old man gets life in prison for defiling friend’s daughter

A lagos Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, yesterday, sentenced a female sales representative, Chinedu Owuasoanya, to seven years imprisonment for abducting her employer’s 12-year-old niece (name withheld).

Justice Abiola Soladoye, who gave the sentence after finding her guilty as charged by the Lagos State government, held that the prosecution proved the case against her beyond reasonable doubt.

The prosecution had alleged that the defendant committed the offence on June 11, 2022, at about 8:00 p.m. in the Omo-Onile Abule-Ado area of Lagos State. She was arraigned for unlawful and fraudulent abduction of the 12-year-old from the custody of the employer (nominal complainant).

The prosecution said her offence was contrary to Section 268 of the Criminal Law Vol 33, Laws of Lagos 2015. During the trial, the state counsel, Olufunke Adegoke, called two witnesses while the convict testified alone in defence.

In her judgement, the judge held that the evidence of the prosecution was truthful and unshakable.

“The defendant was an irresponsible liar, who abducted the girl on the third day of work and kept her away for nine days, on the pretext that she did not want the girl to be maltreated by her aunt,” the court said.

The judge further held that the nominal complainant and the police officer who investigated the matter were consistent.

RELATEDLY, Justice Rahman Oshodi of a Lagos Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court sentenced a 53-year-old trader, Kenneth Mba, to life imprisonment for defiling his friend’s 12-year-old daughter.

Mba allegedly committed the offence sometime in April 2021, at Ogunjimi Street, Iwaya, in the Yaba area of Lagos. His offence contravened the provision of Section 137 of the Criminal Laws Ch.17 Vol. 3 Laws of Lagos State, 2015.

The judge, who found him guilty of the charge brought against him by the state government, held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt, the charge of defilement against the convict.

He noted that the convict’s confessional statement that he defiled the survivor in his room three times and gave her N200 each time after sex, was corroborated by the survivor’s testimony.

During the trial, the prosecuting counsel, Inumidun Solarin, called three witnesses while the convict testified alone in defence. The judge said the oral evidence of the defendant did not hold water, describing him as a pathological liar.

The court said the defendant betrayed the trust the survivor’s father had for him as they had been friends for over 20 years and came from the same local council.

The court said: “The evidence of the survivor was unequivocal, straightforward, and full of clarity. The survivor told this court that she used to play with her friend, whose house was close to the defendant’s. She said, one day, she was in her friend’s house when she heard the defendant’s baby crying.

“She said she entered the defendant’s house and carried the baby. In the process, the defendant threatened, and had sex with her.” The judge held that the confessional statement was consistent with the evidence before the court.

The judge also held that the medical report corroborated the evidence by the prosecution witnesses, saying: “There is abundant evidence that the defendant had sex with the prosecutrix.”

The court, therefore, convicted and sentenced him to life imprisonment, and ordered that his name be registered in the Lagos State Sexual Offences Register.