AN IKEJA Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Monday sentenced a 24-year-old commercial driver, Abdul Hudu, to life imprisonment for defiling and abducting a 10-year-old girl.
Justice Rahman Oshodi held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubts the two-count charge of abduction and defilement against Hudu.
The convict was sentenced to two years in prison on count one and life imprisonment on count two.
Oshodi, in his judgment, said 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.
“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.
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“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 culpability.
“This is a severe case of child abduction and defilement and the law views the offences as deserving of severe punishment to reflect society’s abhorrence in order to punish the offender and to protect other children from suffering a similar fate,” the judge said.
He also held that the fact that the convict was a first-time offender did not deflect the preceding.
“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,” Oshodi ruled, adding that the convict brought the punishment upon himself through his wicked actions.
“I hope you will use your time in custody to reflect and reform,” Oshodi said.
NAN reports that the State Lead Counsel, Mr Babajide Boye, had called three witnesses: the survivor, her father and one Ms Oluchi Nwoke-Okoi, a nurse with the Women at Risk International Foundation.
The convict, however, testified as the sole defence witness.
Certified copies of his extra-judicial statement dated July 23, 2019 were received and marked as exhibit A-A1.
The prosecutor had submitted that the convict committed the offence on June 30, 2019 on Adekunle Street, Idi Araba, Mushin, Lagos.
He told the court that the minor was returning from an errand in the night when the convict knocked her unconsciousness and abducted her. (NAN)
