Wale Igbintade
A Lagos Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, yesterday sentenced, a 42-year-old man, Suleimon Usman, to life imprisonment for defiling his eight years old daughter.
Justice Rahman Oshodi sentenced him to life imprisonment after he was found guilty as charged by the Lagos State government.
Usman was arraigned on two counts charge bordering on defilement of his two daughters of eight years and five years at his No.2 Bale Street, Onisewo in Apapa area of Lagos State.
His offence contravened the provisions of section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
Usman was first arraigned before Justice Sybil Nwaka on October 2019 before the judge was elevated to the Court of Appeal and the case file was reassigned to Justice Oshodi court wherein he was reassigned on two counts charge.
He had pleaded not guilty to the two counts charge.
During trial, the prosecution called four witnesses among which was the survivor, the eight years old girl, the Investigative Police Officer (IPO), the defendant wife (the mother of the survivors) and the medical doctor from Mirabel Centre.
After the close of prosecution case, defendant opened his defence. He called three witnesses including the defendant.
The survivor in her testimony identified the defendant as her father. The first survivor narrated to court how her father defiled her repeatedly.
She had further testified that she informed her school teacher who is close to her mother. She told court that she did not tell her mother because the defendant had warned and threatened her that she will die if she tell
her.
The defendant wife in her testimony narrated to court how she discovered that her two daughters were defiled when she took the two girls to the hospital.
She went to the teacher to help her get information as to know why her daughter was not walking properly.
The teacher later told her she doesn’t want to scatter her home. She further told court that she took them ( the two girls) to the laboratory. During the examination, the nurse told her they have been deflowered.
The girls said they were sexually abused by their father. She was later directed to Ben Bruce Organisation before Mirabel Centre.
Survivor’s mother told court how she sexually satisfied the defendant.
She expressed her bitterness that the man she married also defiled his own children.
Under cross examination, survivor’s mother told court that there was a night she met the defendant and the girl in their parlour.
She recounted that, when she asked him, he told her that he carried the girl to urinate. She told court she would never lied against her husband.
But the defendant had told the court that his wife lied against him because he wanted to relocate the wife to village.
He said his wife concocted the lie because he wanted to marry another wife and been afraid of taking the girls from her.
However, Justice Oshodi in his judgment held that on count one, the testimony of the first survivor corroborated the medical doctor.
The court held: “I do not believe that the first survivor was tutored. I reiterated that her evidence is credible. Regardless, I have already received eye witness account, which narrated what happened, “my daddy every night he use to carry me from our room and put me in parlour and put his penis in my bombom.”
“The prosecution provided evidence of medical doctor who examined the survivor. The redness in the virginal lips, the anus was loosen and getting healed and there was penetration in the survivor anus.
“I am convinced that the medical doctor evidence corroborate that of the survivor.”
Justice Oshodi therefore, sentenced him to life imprisonment.
