TheCable

A high court in Ado-Ekiti, on Tuesday, sentenced one Dauda Jimoh, a 62-year-old landlord, to life imprisonment for sexually abusing a nine-year-old girl.

According to NAN, Jimoh was arraigned before Lekan Ogunmoye, the presiding judge, on a one-count rape charge on August 5, 2020.

The offence, committed on September 27, 2019, at Ilupeju, contravenes section 31(2) of the state’s child rights law.

The victim, while giving her testimony, said the convict sexually abused her four times, adding that he threatened to kill her if she disclosed the act to anybody.

“I attended a nursery/primary school in Ilupeju Ekiti. Baba cooler (the convict) was our landlord, he had sex with me four times before my sister caught us on that day,” she said.

“In the afternoon, he called me to his room, asked me to sleep on the chair, removed my pant and put his penis in my vagina, he was doing it when my sister caught us.

“Whenever he had sex with me, I was always afraid to tell my mother because he had warned me not to tell anybody or I will die.”

Speaking through Chris Omokhafe, the defence counsel, the convict confessed to having committed the crime but denied penetrating her vagina.

Ogunmoye, the presiding judge, said the written and oral confessional statements of the defendants had proved without a doubt that Jimoh was guilty of the offence.

“In all, the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt against the defendant as charged,” the judge said.

“The sole issue for determination is resolved in favour of the prosecution. He is convicted as charged.

“He is sentenced to life imprisonment.”