A High Court of the Capital Territory, FCT, has convicted and sentenced one Laminu Ahmed, 36, to life imprisonment for raping a seven-year-old girl.
Justice Modupe Osho-Adebiyi found the defendant guilty based on an eight-count charge the Federal Government entered against him through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN.
The trial judge held that the prosecutor from the Sexual and Gender Based Violence Response unit of the Federal Ministry of Justice headed by Mrs Yewande Awopetu, successfully proved the case.
According to the charge, the convict had on January 3, 2023 asked the victim (name withheld) to bring him a plate of food from the food her mother was selling at the Zuba Fruit Market, Abuja, and thereafter, lured her to follow him with the food to a public bathroom in the market.
The prosecution told the court that the convict locked the door as soon as the victim entered and proceeded to sexually abuse and rape her by forcefully kissing her and later inserting his fore finger and penis into her private part.
“He clamped his hands over her mouth when she attempted to scream and threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone.
“Nevertheless, the little girl was brave enough to tell her mother about the rape on her return. The mother had gone out to attend a friend’s naming ceremony when the incident occurred.
“The parents had immediately reported the matter to the local vigilante who arrested the defendant and handed him over to the Police.
“The defendant confessed to the crime at the Police Station in Zuba and at the FCT Command where the matter was later transferred,” the court was told.
The charge against the defendant bordered on offences of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child and sexual abuse under the Child Rights Act; Rape, Intimidation and Infliction of bodily injury under the Violence against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) 2015; and Criminal force under the Penal Code.
However, the defendant upon his arraignment in June 2023, pleaded not guilty to all eight counts.
To prove the case, the prosecution called witness and tendered evidences that included the defendant’s confessional statement and confessional video, medical report and report of investigation as well as the statements of the victim and her mother to the police.
Despite Laminu’s futile attempts to deny making the confessional statement and his claim that he was forced to confess, the prosecution succeeded in proving its case against him and he was convicted and sentenced by the court which found him guilty.
Meanwhile, the prosecution counsel, Awopetu, described the judgement as a win for the justice sector, particularly the SGBV Response Unit in conjunction with the Gender Unit of the FCT Police Command.
“It is also a warning to would be perpetrators that the long arm of the law will definitely catch up with them. A key lesson for parents in this case is never to leave their kids untended in a public place.
“Laminu Ahmed’s name will be included in the Sexual Offender’s Register as is required by law,” Awopetu added in a statement that was made available to newsmen on Friday by the media aide to the AGF, Kamarudeen Ogundele.
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