Court sentences man to life in prison for defiling 14-yr-old daughter in Lagos

Justice Abiola Soladoye of the Lagos State Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court, Ikeja, on Wednesday, sentenced a middle-aged man, Adewale Ibitoye, to life imprisonment for defiling his 14-year-old daughter.

Ibitoye was convicted alongside his friend, Moses Okrukpe, who also had unlawful sexual intercourse with the minor which resulted in her pregnancy.

In her ruling, the judge held that the prosecution had proved its case against the convicts beyond a reasonable doubt.

She described as barbaric Ibitoye’s decision to sleep with his underage daughter several times before passing her on to his friend for a pseudo-marriage over a bottle of gin.

Justice Soladoye said: “The survivor testified that her father had sexual intercourse with her on several occasions and that her father gave her hand in marriage to the second convict after he visited their house and gifted her father, a bottle of gin.

READ ALSO: Lagos govt to arraign medical doctor for alleged defilement

“She said the second defendant had sexual intercourse with her which led to pregnancy and the first defendant in his testimony, confirmed that he collected a bottle of gin from his friend as wedding rights.

“The testimony of the survivor was vivid and unshaken during cross-examination as the first prosecution witness, a pastor, testified before the court that the survivor lost the two-month-old baby due to lack of care and malnutrition.

“The testimony of the third prosecution witness, a police investigative officer, also confirmed to the court that the survivor was 14 years when she started living with the second defendant as his wife and that he registered her in a local hospital in Ijebu Ode while she was pregnant with the baby.”

She maintained that by law, a 14-year-old girl cannot give consent in marriage and condemned the father for engaging her daughter in the act.

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