Kemisola Oye
JUSTICE Abiola Soladoye of a Lagos Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court earlier today sentenced a painter, Azeez Salau, to life imprisonment for defiling his neighbour’s nine-year-old daughter.
The judge sentenced Salau after finding him guilty as charged by the Lagos State government.
While delivering judgment, Justice Soladoye held that the prosecution had sufficiently proved the three ingredients of defilement against the defendant.
The judge held that the convict was a shameless and sexual pervert who entered the room of his neighbour while she had gone to work at night and sexually assaulted the girl.
The court held that the survivor recognised the convict as ‘Daddy Kalid’ who had sex with her three times in her mother’s room while her mother was at work.
Justice Soladoye held that the testimony of the survivor was clear, coherent and consistent even when she was cross-examined, even as her evidence was corroborated with the medical report.
“The survivor, in this case, gave vivid, thorough evidence which was corroborated with the medical report.
“The survivor, who was the first prosecution witness, testified before this court that she lives with her mother and identified the defendant in the dock as their neighbour, known as Daddy Kalid.
“She said that the defendant would come to her room and have sexual intercourse with her and that no one was usually home when it happened. She said ‘I am always on the bed and he is also on the bed with me.
“He touches my body with his hands and uses his penis to have sex with me through my vagina”.
The court also held that the evidence of Dr. Alagbe Oyedeji of Mirabel Medical Centre wherein he said that the medical report showed multiple healed lacerations as there was blunt forceful penetration of the vagina.
Also, the court held that the testimony of the survivor’s mother who testified that she was a night worker and that the survivor and her brother were made to sleep alone in the house.
“The survivor’s mother told the court that one of her neighbours, Mummy Darasimi, informed her of the incident.”
“But the defendant in his defence said that he had an issue with the mother of the girl but his story did not add up as he tries to distance himself from the commission of the crime but his testimony does not hold water”.
The judge therefore convicted the defendant of the charge and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
According to the judge, his name should be registered in the Lagos State Sexual Offences Register.
The court held that:: “The defendant is a neighbour to the victim and in this case, he ought not to have done what he did to the child.
This should serve as a strong warning to the perpetrators of this act that the day of reckoning is near.
“Parents are once again advised that the need for mentorship and monitoring of their children is not negotiable. The defendant is hereby found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.”
During the trial, the state prosecution counsel, Mr Olusola Soneye and Ms Abimbola Abolade called
three witnesses and the convict testified as a sole witness.
The prosecutor informed the court that the convict committed the offence sometime in January 2020 at Oshiboyede Street, Selewu, Igbogbo, Ikorodu Lagos.
His offence contravenes the provision of Section 137 of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
Eighteen-Eleven Media