Kemisola Oye
JUSTICE Rahman Oshodi of a Lagos Sexual Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a cobbler, Alex Michael and a self-acclaimed Islamic cleric, Yakubu Isiaka to life imprisonment.
The two suspects were sentenced after they were found guilty of the charge in the suit delineated in ID/12196C/2020 brought against them by the state government.
The defendants were alleged to have had sexual intercourse with a thirteen-year-old girl without her consent and were arraigned on a two-count charge filed against them on 27 May 2020.
They were first arraigned before Justice Sybil Nwaka before she was elevated to the Court of Appeal. And the duo pleaded not guilty to the two counts.
The defendants were later re-arraignment before Justice Oshodi on 3rd August 2021 on the allegation of having had sexual intercourse with the underage girl (13 years old) five times between October and November 2019 at Fatai Olukoga Street, Igbo Olowu Estate, Ikorodu.
Michael was alleged to have had carnal knowledge of the girl three times while Alfa Isiaka was said to have had unlawful sexual intercourse with her two times.
Their offence is contrary to the provision of Section 137 of the Criminal Law Cap C. 17, Vol. 3 Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
They pleaded not guilty to the charge when read to them.
The prosecution team, Babajide Boye, O. Aluko and I. D. Solarin, commenced trial and called witnesses to testify against the defendants among which is the Investigation Police Office (IPO), the survivor and others. The prosecution also tendered documents as exhibits.
The IPO told the court how she came to know the defendants when they were brought to the Human Rights Section of Owutu Police Division on 6th December 2019.
Michael had in his statement stated that the young girl normally comes to their house and a woman called Mummy Ada always sends her away. He stated that on the day of the incident, “she came to my house again, when she entered, she sat on the floor and she took my phone and started watching some videos on it.
“When I looked at her she laughed and I asked her the reason she was laughing. She was watching a blue film on it. I retrieved the phone from her. She went out and later came back and took the phone again and at that time I was laying down on my bed and she said she wanted me to see what she was watching. That was when she started kissing me and we had sexual intercourse together. A day later she came again and we had sex again.”
In his defence, the first defendant, led by his counsel, O. Fatoye on 11th October 2022, admitted knowing the young girl as according to him she was his neighbour at the time of the incident but insisted that he did not have any relationship with her and did not know why he was in court.
He later said that the allegation of defilement was trumped up because he slapped her sister which led to a struggle between him and the girl’s father. He said that at the Police Station, he was beaten and threatened before he wrote Exhibit P2. (his statement).
When he was cross-examined, he said that in the first statement, he wrote he denied the allegation.
However, while delivering judgment, Justice Oshodi held that the prosecution proved the case of defilement against the defendants and therefore sentenced both to life imprisonment.
The court also held that the first statement the first defendant said he wrote denying the allegation was not tendered, “But no such statement has been produced by the parties. None was contained in the proof of evidence. The only statement before the court is Exhibit P2. I have looked at Exhibit P2. I see that Exhibit P2 was signed in five places by the first defendant at the top and bottom of the front page and the top and bottom of the second page.
“The confession in Exhibit P2 was corroborated by the IPO who testified that the first defendant admitted that he had sexual intercourse with the survivor three times. I also believe that the first defendant had the opportunity to commit the crime. He was the survivor’s neighbour and knew her well. I believe that the confession in Exhibit P2 is possible and is consistent with other facts which have been ascertained as articulated in this judgment.
“Consequently, I believe that Exhibit P2 is a direct, positive, and unequivocal admission of guilt by the first defendant: Ebagua v. Attorney General, Bendel State (In Re: Gabriel Osakwe) (1994) 2 NWLR (Pt. 326) 273 (it is also reported in (1994) 2 SCNJ 57″, the court held.
After citing a plethora of decided cases, Justice Oshodi held that “you had sexual intercourse with the victim who, to your knowledge, was a child. You both admitted this crime to Police officers at the Owutu Police Division, Ikorodu.
“You, Mr Alex Michael, said that you had sexual intercourse with the victim three times because she was flirting around you. You also shared phonographic materials on your mobile phone with the victim.
“As for you, Mr Yakubu Isiaka (a.k.a. Alfa), the evidence shows that you had sexual intercourse with the victim twice. The first time, you gave her N500.00, the second time, you gave her N200.00. Our laws in Lagos State have zero tolerance for sexual crimes.
“The charge of defilement, for which you have both been convicted, carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, which sends a signal that it is unacceptable. I consider the seriousness of the offence to justify a life sentence, and that is the sentence I must, therefore, impose upon you.”
Justice Oshodi therefore sentenced the first defendant, Alex Michael to life imprisonment and the second defendant, Yakubu Isiaka (a.k.a. Alfa), to life imprisonment.
The judge ordered that their names be registered as sex offenders in the Lagos State Sexual Offenders’ Register.
Eighteen-Eleven Media