A Minna Senior Magistrate Court judge, Angwan Daji, Hajiya Hafsat Abdullahi Bawa Wuse, has sentenced a 55-year-old man to life imprisonment in a correctional facility for alleged unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor in the state.
The defendant, Ya’u Ibrahim, was earlier arraigned before the court on August 15, 2023, for having unlawful canal knowledge with a six-year-old girl, punishable under Section 26(2) of the Child Rights Law 2021.
He also infected his victim with a sexually transmitted disease, which has permanently damaged the health of the little girl.
During the trial, the police prosecutor, Inspector Aliyu Yakubu Kuta, presented two witnesses who testified and both gave detailed pictures of how the defendant sexually molested the minor.
Kuta also tendered two exhibits before the court, comprised of the confessional statement of the convict as well as a medical report from the Rayuwa Sexual Reference Centre Police Clinic in Minna.
However, the 55-year-old pleaded for leniency on the charge.
But the Presiding Senior Magistrate, Bawa Wuse, in her ruling, insisted that, considering the weight of the offence committed by the 55 year, he deserved no mercy from the court.
She explained that following his confession as contained in the medical report and the stigma the victim will carry for life as a result of his action, the court found him guilty on one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child, punishable under Section 26(2) of the Child Rights Law 2021 as amended, and she convicted him accordingly.
According to her, “The victim’s health status as confessed by the convict himself, who confessed as contained in the medical report, and the stigma the victim will carry for life as a result of the convict action, the court hereby sentence you, Ibrahim Ya’u, to imprisonment for life for the offence of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child.”
Hajiya Wuse was the first magistrate in the state to invoke the full punishment of life sentence on a rapist.
