Man gets life sentence for defiling seven-year-old niece

Justice Sururat Soladoye of Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court has sentenced a 30-year-old bricklayer, Idowu Gbolahan, to life for defiling his seven-year-old niece.

The trial judge sentenced him following his guilty plea to the charge of defilement brought against him by the Lagos State government.

He was said to have defiled the girl who visited her grandmother in Shomolu, Lagos, on August 11, 2018.

While delivering judgement, Justice Soladoye held that the defendant pleaded guilty to one-count charge of defiling a child, contrary to Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.

“The defendant, upon arraignment, admitted to defiling the victim, who is a seven-year-old. I have listened carefully to the allocutus of the defence counsel, Mr. Kelechi Obi, (but) the offence in question is a strict liability offense.

“An offence against a child is a violation of her chastity, and I cannot imagine the emotional and physical scars she will endure for the rest of her life.”

Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Mrs. Fehinti Ogbemudia, had narrated that the defendant carried the victim from her grandmother’s room where she went to drink water.

According to her, the defendant shut the door, removed the victim’s panties and had sexual intercourse with her. “The victim’s scream attracted a neighbour, one Ufot Esther, who effected the victim’s rescue.”

In his allocutus, Mr. Obi pleaded for mercy, arguing that his client had no previous criminal record of offence and did not waste the time of the court.