A-44-year-old man, Oto Edet has been jailed for having sexual intercourse with his neighbour’s nine-year-old daughter (name withheld).
The convict was sentenced on Tuesday by a Lagos State Domestic Violence Court and Sexual Offences Court, Ikeja.
Delivering the judgement, Justice Abiola Soladoye held that the prosecution proved the one-count charge of defilement against the defendant.
Judge’s verdict on Oto Edet
The trial judge said that Oto Edet was a pathological liar and a dirty neighbour who should he ashamed of the hideous act.
Justice Soladoye held that the convict exhibits unwholesome conduct by descending so low in having unlawful sexual intercourse with her neighbour’s daughter.
The judge said: “He is a dirty neighbour who was found boxer-down with her neighbour’s daughter being naked.
“The survivor was lucid evidence while testifying before this court how the defendant had unlawful sexual intercourse with her on numerous occasions.
“The survivor maintained in her evidence that ‘he has put his penis in my bumbum before and that was when his wife gave birth’ and that said she was ordered to go sweep the compound but did not return after a while.
“She said a search led her mother to the door of the defendant when her pair of slippers was found outside his door and she was found naked behind the defendant’s door.”
Justice Soladoye further said that the prosecution successfully proved a compelling evidence against Oto Edet, convicted him and subsequently sentenced him to life imprisonment.
The judge ordered that his name should be registered in the sexual offences register of Lagos State Government.
Justice Soladoye also advised parents and guardians to be more vigilant in training their children.
Soladoye also called on stakeholders in the justice sector to continually preach the gospel of zero tolerance to sexual abuse.
The Prosecution Counsel, Ms. Abimbola Abolade, called three witnesses through whom four exhibits were tendered in evidence against the convict.
Defence, however, did not present any witness to the court but rested on the prosecution’s case.
The State Counsel told the court that the convict committed the offence between 2020 and 2021 on Solomon Toriola Street, Abaranje, Olorun in Lagos.
According to the prosecution, the offence contravenes Section 137 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
