A Kano State High Court has sentenced a 27-year-old man, Abdullahi Lawan, to seven years imprisonment for sexually abusing three teenage boys.

Lawan of Rangaza Damagari area in the Ungogo Local Government of Kano State was convicted on a three-count charge of sexual abuse after he pleaded guilty to the charges on Friday, October 18, 2024.

Delivering judgement, Justice Aisha Mahmoud sentenced the convict to seven years imprisonment on each of the three-count charges preferred against him by the Kano State Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

Justice Mahmoud held that the prosecution had proven his case beyond reasonable doubt.

She sentenced the convict to seven years imprisonment each without an option of fine.

The judge also ordered him to pay a fine of N1 million saying if he fails to pay the said N1 million, he would serve additional two years in prison.

“The sentence shall run concurrently,” Justice Mahmoud said.

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The Prosecutor and Zonal Commander of NAPTIP in Kano State, Abdullahi Babale, said the Stat Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) reported the matter to the agency on September 25.

Babale disclosed that the convict committed the offence at his shop situated in Rangaza Damagari in August 2024.

“The convict procured gift for the victims between the ages of 10 and 13-year-old boys at his shop when they went to rent a small truck.

“In the process, he gave them N300, groundnut and sexually exploited them” Babale said.

The prosecutor presented four exhibits, including the confessional statement of the convict and the victims’ testimony to the court, to prove his case.

Babale said the offence contravened the provisions 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 defence counsel, I.I Umar, pleaded for leniency on behalf of Lawan.

The Star