Delta gateman bags life jail for defiling eight-year-old girl

A High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta State has sentenced a 35-year-old man, Idris Hassan, to life imprisonment for raping a minor.

Hassan was arraigned before the court on one count of rape punishable under Section 218 of the Criminal Code Law Cap C21 Vol. 1 Laws of the Delta State of Nigeria 2006.

He was alleged to have had carnal knowledge of an eight-year-old on August 22, 2022.

The prosecution led by the Director of Sexual Offences, Domestic Violence and Childs Rights Unit in the Delta State Ministry of Justice, Mrs Patricia Akamagwuna, called six witnesses and tendered the defendant’s confessional statement.

The prosecution told the court that the survivor was at home with her two elder siblings when the accused, who was a gateman to their neighbour, lured her with biscuits

“When she got there, the accused forced himself on her. The survivor’s neighbour caught him in the act and he was subsequently arrested by men of the Police ‘B’ Division, Asaba,” she explained.

In his defence, Hassan denied the charge and retracted the confessional statement stating that there was no sexual contact between him and the survivor.

Delivering his judgment, Justice Onome Marshal-Umukoro held that the prosecution proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

The court thereafter convicted and sentenced the defendant to life imprisonment.

Similarly, another High Court sitting at Kwale sentenced another rape culprit to eight years imprisonment.