Court Sentences NA veteran to Life Imprisonment For Raping 13 Year old stepdaughter

Barely 24 hours after an Ogun State High Court, sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta sentenced a 21 year-old house help to death by hanging for hacking a retired magistrate to death, the court also on Thursday sentenced a retired soldier, Alabi Ibrahim to life imprisonment for raping his 10-year old stepdaughter and infected her with HIV.
Ibrahim, who committed the offence in 2012 in his house where both the victim and her mother reside with him, was subsequently arrested by the police and later charged to court.

Earlier in the trial under case number AB/37/C/14, a medical report presented in the court by the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta established that the convict had sexually assaulted the girl and also infected her with HIV.
The report tendered by Dr. Seyi Adejobi had it that apart from defiling the girl, blood test also revealed that the girl had HIV, while the convict’s blood sample also tested positive of HIV.
Similarly, the assaulted girl told the court that, she had lost count on number of times her step father had canal knowledge of her. She also told the court that at the end of every sex, the convict always threatened her that she would die if she should tell anybody.
The convict’s counsel, Adebola Okudoro in his plea told the court, that allegation against him was an hearsay, and appealed to the court to temper justice with mercy.
“My Lord, the accused person is a first offender. The health of accused should be put into consideration. He is infected with HIV, and will need access to medical attention, which is very expensive, and there is no such facility in prison custody.
“The accused person is the breadwinner of his family. He has several dependants. We pray the court to temper justice with mercy”, the counsel pleaded.
Delivering his judgment,  Justice A.A Akinyemi said the accused faced a one count charge of having sexual intercourse with the child, offence said to be contrary to section 3 of Child Rights Law.  He said that the court was convinced with the allegation against the accused after several court sittings.
Akinyemi added that “the victim’s testimony during a cross examination showed that, she was telling the truth, and not tutored and there were concrete evidences that the victim was sexually assaulted, having also lost count on number of times the convict assaulted her.
“The court is convinced about the girl evidences, she is intelligent. She remained consistent during cross examination. She does not seem to have been tutored. I find her evidence credible. Evidence of her mother corroborated her own”, the judge stated.
The judge made references to the medical report which stated that the accused infected the girl with HIV, stressing that the convict’s action has brought a permanent stigma on the innocent girl.
The judge also explained that evidence of the medical report does not suggest that the girl had earlier been sexually assaulted, as being made to believe by the convict. He also nullified the argument that there was no eyewitness account on the sex allegation, pointing out that those who engage in rape do not employ the service of cameramen; rather the witnesses are the accused and the respondent.
“I am fully convinced that the accused had repeatedly had sex with the girl. I find the accused guilty as charged. I find it not in my mind to show any mercy. The man is shameless, sleeping with mother and child, what an abomination. People like him need not to be in the society. I therefore sentence him to life imprisonment; he should however be given access to reasonable treatment”, the judge submitted.