A Federal High Court sitting in Kano, on Monday, September 30, 2024, sentenced an 80-year-old man, Ya’u Abdullahi, to seven years imprisonment for raping an eight-year-old girl at Layin Gidan Mai Unguwar in Nassarawa Local Government Area of Kano State.

The Kano State Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) arraigned Abdullahi with sexual exploitation.

The prosecution counsel and Kano Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Abdullahi Babale, told the court that the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, Kano Metropolitan, reported the matter to the agency on August 27, 2024.

He said the 80-year-old man committed the offence at about 8 p.m., at Murtala Market in Nassarawa Local Government of Kano State on August 26.

Babale said the defendant lured the eight-year-old girl into a quiet place at Murtala Market and molested her.

The prosecutor also presented the confessional statement of the defendant and the victim’s testimony in Hausa and English Language translation to the court to prove the case.

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Babale added that the offence contravenes the provision of section 16(1) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 26(1) of TIP ACT 2015.

The 80-year-old man pleaded guilty to the charge.

The defence counsel, Hajiya Fatima Chabir, pleaded for leniency on behalf of Abdullahi.

The presiding judge, Justice S M Shu’aibu, held that the prosecution counsel had proven its case beyond the reasonable doubt.

“I hereby sentence Ya’u Abdullahi to seven years imprisonment without any option of fine,” Justice Shu’aibu declared.

The Star