An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Monday sentenced bricklayer Azeez Shoderu to life imprisonment for defiling his neighbour’s eight-year-old daughter in a toilet.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Rahman Oshodi imposed the sentence after finding Shoderu guilty of the one-count charge of defilement brought against him by the Lagos State Government.
Oshodi held that the prosecution successfully proved the offence of defilement against the bricklayer.
According to him, the survivor’s testimony was well corroborated by the testimony of the investigative police officer, who also testified before the court.
He stated that the convict’s evidence was inconsistent and all attempts to distance himself from the offence did not hold water.
Oshodi said: “The prosecutrix (survivor) gave a compelling, eyewitness evidence before this court that the convict, alias Chisco, ‘took me to the toilet, carried me on his lap, covered my mouth and put his thing in my bumbum’.
“The prosecutrix identified the convict as her neighbour and when one of their neighbours saw them, he threw her into the other bathroom and ran away.
“Her evidence was consistent throughout her examination-in-chief that the convict removed her pant and put her on his lap,” the judge remarked.
The judge also noted that the convict’s actions had undoubtedly inflicted deep psychological wounds that might take a lifetime to heal.
The court further held that the convict admitted to interacting with the child in the compound, where he claimed to have asked her to bring water to him in the toilet.
However, the child recounted that she went to urinate in the bathroom, where the convict subsequently covered her mouth, placed her on his lap, and engaged in a sexual act with her.
Meanwhile, the convict denied any wrongdoing when taken to the police station.
During his arraignment on 29 September 2023, he pleaded not guilty.
The court established that the convict was a squatter on Ago-Hausa Street in Ajegunle, Lagos, where he interacted with the child, and confirmed that he was at a toilet facility where the survivor was also present.
The evidence presented by the survivor was corroborated by a medical report, along with the testimonies of the Investigating Police Officer and a medical doctor, showing that the convict committed the offence.
The judge noted that a child who had not attained the age of 18 is incapable of consenting to sexual activity.
Having found the convict guilty, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment and ordered that his name be registered as a sex offender.
The state counsel, led by Mr Dare Dada, presented three witnesses and submitted exhibits in court to substantiate the charge against the convict during the trial, while the defendant testified in his own defence.
According to the prosecution, the offence contravenes Section 137 of the Criminal Laws of 2015.
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