Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja yesterday convicted and sentenced a 24-year-old commercial driver, Abdul Hudu, to life imprisonment for defiling and abducting a 10-year-old girl (name withheld) for three days.
Justice Oshodi sent Hudu to prison for the rest of his life after he held that the prosecution team had proven beyond reasonable doubt the two-count charge of adduction and defilement brought against him by the Lagos State government.
The court sentenced the convict to two years imprisonment on the count of abduction.
The state lead counsel, Babajide Boye, had informed the judge during trial that the convict committed the offences on June 30 2019, on Adekunle Street, Idi Araba, Mushin, Lagos.
Boye had also claimed that the survivor was returning from an errand in the night when the convict hit her and put something on her face, causing her to lose consciousness, and she woke up in his room.
He called three witnesses: the survivor, her father, and one Ms Oluchi Nwoke-Okoi, a nurse with the Women at Risk International Foundation, while the convict testified as the sole defence witness.
In his judgment, Justice Oshodi held that the facts of the case were distressing as Hudu cruelly abducted the 10-year-old survivor from the safety and care of her parents for three agonising days.
The judge stated, “Her father could not eat, and her mother cried incessantly, sick with worry over their missing child.
“The callous disregard you showed for a child’s well-being, the emotional torment inflicted on her parents is shocking and worse still, during those three days, you repeatedly defiled and sexually assaulted this vulnerable young girl at the tender age of 10.
“She experienced unthinkable trauma and violation at your hands, which no child should ever have to endure, and her innocence was stolen.
“Throughout this trial, you have shown no remorse. You lied blatantly in your testimony, denying the clear evidence against you, including your prior statement to the police; the web of falsehoods you spun to evade responsibility only compounded your guilt,” the court held.
Justice Oshodi further held that it was a severe case of child abduction and defilement, and the law viewed the offences as deserving of severe punishment to reflect society’s abhorrence to punish the offender and to protect other children from suffering a similar fate.
He held that the fact that the convict was a first-time offender did not deflect the preceding.
The judge stated, “In light of the gravity of the offences, the aggravating features and the absence of remorse, I sentence you as follows:
“On count one, the offence of abduction contrary to section 141, I sentence you to two years imprisonment, and it shall commence on the date of your arrest, July 23 2019, as shown in exhibit A-A1.
“On count two, the offence of defilement contrary to section 137, I sentence you to the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, and you shall also be registered as a sex offender.
“The sentences are to run concurrently; you will serve your custodial terms at the Maximum-Security Custodial Centre or wherever the Nigerian Correctional Service may direct you,” he held.
The judge further said that he had brought the punishment upon himself through the convict’s wicked actions.
“I hope you will use your time in custody to reflect and reform,” the judge held.
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