Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
An Ekiti State High Court in Ado Ekiti has sentenced a 20-year-old Amujo Kunle to five years imprisonment for sexually abusing a four-year old girl.
Handing down the verdict yesterday, Justice John Adeyeye found the defendant guilty of the offence of sexual abuse and exploitation of a child as charged.
He said: “Every available evidence points to the fact that the defendant is guilty as charged. The prosecuting counsel has proven the case beyond reasonable doubt.
“The defendant in the circumstance is sentenced to five years imprisonment without an option of fine.’’
Amujo, on May 29, 2020, at Odo Oro Ekiti in Ikole Ekiti Local Government Area of the state “within the jurisdiction of this court, sexually abused and exploited a four-year-old girl by removing her cloth and laid on her, contrary to Section 32 of the Child’s Right Laws of Ekiti State,” the charge read.
The minor in her statement to the police said: “I am four years old. One day, Amujo took me to one Saidi; he removed my pant and laid on me. He first put tom-tom in my mouth and covered my mouth with my cloth when my mother was calling me outside.”
In her testimony before the court, the victim’s mother said: “I went to give breakfast (food) to my brother who came from our village for visitation; when I came back, I did not find my daughter. I was calling her name, but she did not answer. I started searching everywhere.
“I wanted to ask my neighbour, Amujo Kunle, if he knew her whereabouts, because his door was not locked. When I opened the door, I saw him laid on my daughter, but he did not take off her trouser. I later discovered that my daughter’s pant was removed while tom-tom was in her mouth. The matter was later reported at the palace.”
To prove his case, the state counsel, Oluwakemi Ajumobi, called four witnesses and tendered no exhibit while the convict spoke in his own defence and called no witness as well.
