A 50-year-old man, Nosa Edebiri has been sentenced to nine years behind bars for allegedly defiling three-year-old girl by an Oredo Magistrates’ Court sitting in Benin, Edo State.
The Magistrate (Mrs) Caroliine Oghuma, handed down the verdict on Edebiri after the accused pleaded guilty to a one-count charge.
“You do not deserve any mercy even though it is the first time you are appearing in court,” Magistrate Oghuma said to Edebiri while delivering judgement
“I consider the offence condemnable since you took advantage of the vulnerable minor. I hereby sentence you to nine years imprisonment without option of fine, to serve as deterrent to others,” Oghuma added.
The prosecutor, Kehinde Adebiyi, had told the minor and her parents had on the sad day lodged the case with the police that the convict defiled the minor at his home close to the minor’ house at Aghimen Street, Off Saint Saviour Road, Benin.
Adeniyi stated that the convict lured the 11-year-old girl to his apartment after buying fish worth of N250 from her mother’s shop on the pretext that the girl should accompany him to his apartment to collect money for the fish.
He told the court that Edebiri forcefully had a carnal knowledge of the minority and threatened to kill her and her mother if she opened up on what he did to her, adding that the act was discovered on the same day when her mother observed she was feeling discomfort in her abdomen.
Adeniyi said it was confirmed that the minor had lost her virginity to the act at the Central Hospital, Benin.