In Minna, Niger State, a Senior Magistrates’ Court 3B in Unguwan-Daji has handed a life sentence to a 55-year-old man, Yau Ibrahim from Kundu village, Rafi LGA. The conviction was based on charges of raping a 6-year-old girl, who also contracted Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) from the assault.
The court heard from Police Prosecutor Inspector Aliyu Yakubu Kuta that on August 3, 2023, at around 3:30 pm, Abdullahi Dauda reported to Kagara Police Division that the suspect had enticed his 6-year-old daughter, a primary 1 student, into his room and engaged in unlawful sexual intercourse with her. The child sustained injuries leading to severe bleeding in her private parts.
During the trial, two witnesses and two exhibits, including the convict’s confessional statement and the victim’s medical report from the Police Clinic in Minna, were presented before the prosecution rested its case.
The convict chose not to mount a defense, confessing to his offense. In the judgment delivered on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, Judge Hafsat Abdullahi Bawa Wuse considered the plea for leniency but ultimately sentenced the convict to life imprisonment. The judge emphasized the severity of the crime, the victim’s compromised health, and the convict’s admission of infecting the child with STDs, as well as the enduring stigma the victim would carry. The sentence was based on the offence of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child, as outlined in Section 26 (2) of the Niger State Child Rights Law 2021, as Amended. The convict was directed to serve his sentence at the Minna old correctional center.
