COURT SENTENCES MAN TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON FOR DEFILING NINE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER

Read Time:1 Minute, 58 Second

The Children, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence Court, located in the High Court of Awka, Anambra State, has sentenced a middle-aged man named Kenneth Nwangu to ten years in prison for defiling his sole child, a nine-year-old daughter.

After strong evidence established the defendant’s culpability as charged, the state government filed three counts against him, and the judgement was rendered in all three cases.

As a result, he was found guilty on count one of having sex with a nine-year-old, which is punishable by Section 34 of the Child Rights Law of Anambra State of Nigeria, 2004. He was given a seven-year prison sentence.

In addition, the court sentenced the defendant to one year in prison for inflicting mental and psychological abuse on the victim and two years in prison for inflicting physical injuries on the victim.

Sections 4 and 16 of the 2017 Anambra State, Nigeria, Violence Against Persons, Prohibition, and Protection Laws punish the two acts.

In rendering its decision, the court considered testimony from prosecution witnesses, including the victim, and also considered evidence suggesting that the defendant had been caring for the victim for approximately a year following the victim’s mother’s departure.

The offender was given an opportunity to address the court as to why he was raping his child and why he shouldn’t receive the maximum sentence of life in prison.

In response, the defendant first denied defiling his child, saying that the accusation that led to his arrest by the police was really made against a lady he typically left the child with after his wife filed for divorce.

But he eventually confessed to the crime and asked for forgiveness, and his defence attorney also begged the court for mercy, citing the defendant’s status as a first-time offender and the fact that the victim was his only child, among other reasons.

The victim is still under the custody of the Anambra State Government, per the court’s decision, and the seven, two, and one-year prison terms are to be served concurrently.

Prof. Sylvia Ifemeje, the Anambra State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, who oversaw the prosecution team in the case, responded to the ruling by calling it a positive step that will discourage future perpetrators.

Ifemeje emphasised that there is no negotiation about the state government’s zero-tolerance policy for sexual assaults.