The Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court sitting in the Ikeja area of Lagos State has sentenced a 24-year-old commercial driver, Abdul Hudu, to life imprisonment for abducting and defiling a 10-year-old girl (name withheld) in the state.

The presiding judge, Justice Rahman Oshodi, held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt the two-count charge of abduction and defilement against Hudu.

Justice Oshodi, on Monday, June 24, 2024, sentenced the driver to two years imprisonment on count one and life imprisonment on the second count.

The judge declared that the facts of the case were distressing as Hudu abducted the 10-year-old survivor from the safety and care of her parents for three days.

Oshodi said: “Her father could not eat and her mother cried incessantly, sick with worry, over their missing child.

“The callous disregard you (Hudu) 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.

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“The web of falsehoods you spun to evade responsibility only compounded your culpability.”

The judge added: “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.”

The Lagos State’s Lead Counsel, Babajide Boye, called three witnesses – the survivor, her father, and one Oluchi Nwoke-Okoi who is a nurse at the Women at Risk International Foundation.

The convict during the trial testified in his own defence.

The prosecutor told the court that the convict committed the offences at Adekunle Street, Idi Araba, Mushin in Lagos State on June 30, 2019.

The prosecutor said the girl was returning from an errand in the night when the driver accosted her.

He said the convict hit the girl with an object and covered her face with something in a cloth, causing her to lose consciousness and later woke up in his room.

According to the evidence before the court, the driver had unlawful multiple intercourse with the survivor over three days in different locations and later dropped her off near her residence.

The Star