Wasiu Ibrahim, a 41-year-old vulcanizer, was on Friday sentenced to life imprisonment by an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court for raping his wife’s 15-year-old niece.
The presiding judge, Justice Rahman Oshodi, who handed down the sentence, held that the prosecution sufficiently proved beyond reasonable doubt the charge of defilement against Ibrahim.
According to the prosecution, the convict committed the crime at 2 a.m. on January 26, 2017 at 61 Abeokuta Street, Ogba, Lagos.
According to Oshodi, the defendant attempted to dispute the extrajudicial statement he made in which he confessed to defiling the survivor.
The judge said, “She had lived with you since she was 10 and called you daddy, yet this did not deter. You threatened to beat her if she told anyone after having sexual intercourse with her.
“She did not inform anyone until days later, after she was found crying at the back of the classroom at Estate Primary School, Ogba.”
The judge stated that a man like the defendant should be ashamed and punished because sexual crime is punishable by law in Lagos State.
“The charge of defilement for which you have been found guilty carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
“I hereby sentence you to life imprisonment and have your name registered in the Sexual Offences Register as maintained by Lagos State,” Oshodi said.
Dr. Babajide Martins, Director of Public Prosecutions, praised the court for a judgement well served.