Court Sentence Two To 35 years Imprisonment Over R#pe

Two men have been sentenced to 35 years imprisonment by a Minna Senior Magistrate Court in the Bosso area of Niger State for defiling a minor.

The suspects, Hassan Haruna aged 24 and Labaran Ya’u, 18, both of Dikko town in Gurara local government area of the state were arraigned on three count charges of a joint act of criminal intimidation and unlawful s3xual intercourse.

The Police Prosecutor, Angela Jah told the court that the three count charges were punishable under section 79,397 of the penal code law and section 18 (2) of the child rights law of Niger State 2010.

Earlier, the prosecutor had informed the court that on the 12 of April 2022, one Kure Yamawo of Ungwan Sarkin area of Dikko had reported at the Tafa Divisional Police Command on the same date that Hassan Haruna and Labaran Ya’u both of Dikko Market area, lured his 17-year-old daughter (names withheld) behind Mable line in Sabon Wuse where they both threatened to kill her and forcefully r*ped with her one after the other.

Jah told the court that during the police investigation, both criminals confessed to the offence.

When the presiding Senior Magistrate read the charges, the suspects both pleaded guilty.

She, however, requested the police to conduct a discreet investigation into the case and make available the necessary evidence for the court to issue its judgement, considering the weight of their offence.

Barau told the prosecutor, “the gravity and nature of the offences and charges against them are so severe that the court must be convinced to give them the punishment they deserve.

”Make available to the court the necessary and convincing evidence and witnesses”, she had ordered the prosecutors.

Against this backdrop, Jah presented the court with evidence as well as three witnesses who testified, including the victim who tendered pictures of her experience in the hands of the suspects.

Giving the sentence, the senior Magistrate decried the rampant cases of s3xual abuse of innocent girls, particularly minors in some parts of the state.

She condemned the behaviour of the two suspects describing it as animalistic and barbaric, insisting that if the appropriate punishment is not meted out on them to serve as a deterrent to their type out there, then the court would not have been fair to the innocent girl.