A 50-year old man, Nosa Edebiri, has been sentenced to nine years imprisonment by an Oredo Magistrates’ Court in Benin, Edo state, for defiling an 11-year old girl. The Magistrate, Mrs Caroliine Oghuma, sentenced Edebiri today after he pleaded guilty to a one-count charge of defilement.
The Prosecutor, Sergeant Kehinde Adebiyi, had told the court that on 2 June, 2015, the minor and her parents came to police station to lodge a complain of defilement of the minor against the convict at his home close to the minor’s house at Aghimen street, off Saint Saviour, Benin.
The court heard that on that fateful day, the convict went to buy fish worth N250 at No 4, Aghimen street, off Saint Saviour, Benin, where the minor was assisting her mother to sell fish.
The convict was said to have asked the minor to follow him home to collect the money of the fish, where he locked her up in his room and forcefully had unlawful carnal knowledge of her and threatened to kill her and her parents if she disclosed what transpired between them.
The parents of the girl however noticed that the girl was not comfortable as she complained of pains in her abdomen and narrated what happened to her to her parents.
The Prosecutor told the court that following complaint by parents of the victim, she was taken to the Central Hospital in Benin for examination where doctors confirmed that the minor had lost her virginity, adding that the convict confessed to the crime.
Delivering her judgment, Magistrate Oghuma told the convict, “You do not deserve any mercy even though it is the first time you are appearing in court. 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.”
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