THE ABIA Government says two child sex offenders have been convicted and sentenced to 30 years and 10 years’ imprisonment respectively, in a major boost to its campaign against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.
The Commissioner for Information, Mr Okey Kanu, disclosed this on Monday while briefing journalists on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting, at the Government House, Umuahia.
Kanu said the convictions demonstrated the state government’s zero-tolerance stance against sexual offences and sent a strong message that perpetrators would be brought to justice.
“Two sexual assault cases were successfully concluded recently, resulting in convictions and prison sentences of 30 years and 10 years respectively.
“These are landmark convictions that indicate that the Abia State Government has zero tolerance for sexual assault,” he said.
He said the convictions were among the notable achievements of the Nchedo Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) at the General Hospital, Aba.
According to him, the centre continues to provide coordinated medical, psychosocial and referral services to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.
Kanu also disclosed that the centre was currently handling two fresh cases involving an alleged gang rape of a 60-year-old woman and the defilement of a five-year-old girl.
He further said that the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection had continued to implement the state’s social protection policy by identifying and supporting vulnerable persons in need of urgent medical and humanitarian assistance.
The commissioner said that officials of the ministry recently visited the family of the late Wendy Achumba of Obingwa Local Government Area, who was allegedly raped and murdered in Imo.
He said that the state government’s representatives attended her burial, provided financial support to the bereaved family and assured them that justice would be pursued.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Mrs Ngozi Felix, said one of the convicts, a 35-year-old man from Akwa Ibom, was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for defiling a five-year-old girl.
Felix added that the suspect fled to Nasarawa after the incident but was tracked and returned to Abia by the police for prosecution.
She said that another 32-year-old man was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment by a Family Court sitting at the High Court, Umuahia, after being convicted of defiling a 13-year-old girl.
She described the proceedings as one of the fastest conviction processes recorded within Nigeria’s network of Sexual Assault Referral Centres.
“The hearing was called up on July 9, and on that same day the offender was convicted and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.
“This is the fastest that has ever happened within the network of Sexual Assault Referral Centres in the country,” she said.
Felix attributed the speedy prosecution to effective collaboration among the Ministries of Health, Justice, Women Affairs, Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, as well as the Nigeria Police Force.
She also commended the Commissioner of Police in Abia, Mr Danladi Isa, for the command’s support in investigating and prosecuting sexual violence cases.
Felix reiterated Gov. Alex Otti-led administration’s commitment to protecting vulnerable persons and warned that perpetrators of sexual offences would face the full weight of the law.
She said the state had established a Sex Offenders Register at the Ministry of Justice to document the identities of convicted offenders as a deterrent to others. (NAN)
