A 34-year-old businessman, Oluwafemi Asekeji was on Tuesday sentenced to life imprisonment for defiling his 12-year-old biological daughter by an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court.
Hon. Justice Abiola Soladoye, in her judgment, also held that the prosecution proved the three legs of the charge of defilement against Asekeji.
Soladoye said that the convict’s act of having unlawful sexual intercourse with his own biological child was against the law of nature; a case of incest which should never be heard of.
She also pointed that the father of the convict, who is 75 years old, testified that Asekeji defiled his granddaughter, by having unlawful sexual intercourse with her.
“The victim, in her testimony, told the court that she was 14 years old but her father defiled her when she was 12 years old,” the judge said.
“She testified that she was at home with her father, who was drunk on June 11, 2020 and he instructed her to enter the room and lie on the bed.
“She told this court that her father asked her to take off her clothes and then had sex with her.
“She said and I quote ‘he laid on me and put his penis in my vagina, then he took videos of me and threatened to show the video to people if I tell anybody what has happened.”
The court held that the survivor testified that her father instructed her to drink salt water after he had defiled her.
The judge said the survivor told the court that she could not tell anyone earlier because the convict had threatened to kill her if she told anyone that he had been sexually abusing her before the last incident of June 11, 2020.
The judge also held that the medical report revealed that the survivor had been defiled as the report showed the hymen had been broken.
The convict’s mother, a petty trader, in her evidence, also told the court that she returned from the market and saw blood on the panties of her granddaughter and then asked her what happened to her.
She said her granddaughter told her that she was having stomach pain and her father gave her something to drink and then told her the incident that occurred.
The survivor’s grandmother said that a report was made at the Meiran police station and the convict was arrested.
The convict’s brother in his testimony also told the court that the convict had been causing problems in the family and had been arrested before.
The convict who testified as the sole witness in his case denied having sexual intercourse with his daughter.
He said that he did not live with his parents but that he had access to the house, adding that his daughter lived with his parents.
According to the court: “Apart from identifying Asekeji as her father, other witnesses confirmed the evidence of the victim.
“Circumstantial evidence and also medical report, evidence of the grandmother, the evidence of the grandfather and evidence of her uncle all points to the convict.
“Oluwafemi Asekeji, you have been found guilty as charged and you are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment.
“The convict is to have his name registered in the Lagos State sexual Offences register.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convict was arraigned before the court on a charge of d!filement.
The State Counsel, Ms Abimbola Abolade, told the court that the convict committed the offence on June 11, 2020, about 11.00 p.m at Ilupeju Street, Araromi Bus Stop, Meiran in Lagos.
The prosecution called five witnesses while the convict testified as a sole witness.
On Monday, Her Lordship had also convicted and sentenced a septuagenarian, David Jackson, to life imprisonment for defiling his neighbour’s seven-year-old daughter.
She sentenced the 72-year-old security guard after holding that the prosecution proved the three ingredients of defilement against him beyond reasonable doubt.
In her judgment, Justice Soladoye held that the victim was seven years old at the time of the incident but was eight years old when she testified before the court and identified Jackson as a gateman in one of the houses on her street.
“A brother of the survivor sent her on an errand on this day and when she passed and greeted the convict, Jackson, he dragged her inside the room and she shouted but he used his handkerchief to cover her mouth.
“The testimony of the survivor was clear, consistent and coherent under cross-examination.
“The second prosecution witness was a teacher who identified the survivor as her student and she testified that one of her classmates had reported to her that the survivor was not feeling well and that she was walking in a funnily way.
“The teacher, in her evidence, stated that she made an inquiry and discovered that the survivor was complaining of pains on her private parts and that someone had sexually assaulted her,” She said.
Justice Soladoye also disclosed that the teacher invited the survivor’s parents but they did not come show up, hence she reported the case leading to the survivor being referred to the Mirabel Medical Centre in Ikeja.
The medical report from the centre was forwarded to the police.
The judge further held that the testimony of the survivor’s father was credible and also corroborated the evidence of the other two prosecution witnesses.
Soladoye noted that attempts of the convict to shy away from the charge did not hold water.
She said: ”The father of the survivor who testified identified Jackson as a security guard around his neighbourhood and that he was with his wife, who was ill in the hospital when the incident happened.
“The testimonies of the prosecution witnesses were credible, convincing, compelling and the prosecution proved the case of defilement against Jackson.
“First, the survivor was a child as she came to the court to testify. Secondly, Jackson had sexual intercourse with her and there was no consent as the survivor is a minor.”
“Jackson is consequently found guilty as charged for the defilement of a seven-year-old child contrary to Section 137 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2015 and he is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment.”
She equally ordered that the name of the convict be registered in the Sexual Offences Register as maintained by the Lagos State Government.
The state prosecution counsel, Abimbola Abolade, called three witnesses during the trial while the convict testified as the sole witness.
Abolade said that the convict committed the offence on May 16, 2022, at Oyedele Close, Ojodu, in the Berger area in Lagos State.
Likewise, an Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division, on Tuesday, July 9, sentenced an officer of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to life imprisonment for raping a minor.
Olukayode Dayo, 39, was arraigned on May 13, 2022, on a count charge of rape.
The charge read, “That Olukayode Dayo on December 25, 2021, at Ado Ekiti did rape a 13 years old girl. The offence is contrary to Section 31(2) of the Child’s Rights Law, Cap. C7, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.”
In her statement to the police, the victim who was living with her grandmother, said, “I was sent home to go and bring banana and kolanut. On my way, one man called OluKay (the defendant) crossed me with his motorcycle, he dropped the banana and kolanut on my head.
“He dragged me to a fenced uncompleted building. He did not bother despite my cries. He removed my pants and started having sex with me. It was when a passerby who heard my voice came there that OluKay took to his heels. The man attempted to chase him, but he escaped. The man later took me to my grandmother.”
The prosecutor, Mr Julius Ajibare, called six witnesses and tendered the defendant’s statement, photographs of the victim and medical report as exhibits.
The defendant, who spoke in his defence through his counsel, Oluwaseun Oyebanji, denied committing the offence but pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.
Delivering his judgment, Justice Lekan Olatawura said, “In this event, the victim consistently, unequivocally and unshakenly stated that the defendant, who was well known to her, was the person who raped her”.
The judge, who said that the prosecutor proved beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant raped the minor on December 25, 2021, said, “In all, I find him guilty as charged. Consequent upon the foregoing, the defendant is sentenced to life imprisonment.”
