The Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, Ikeja, Lagos, has sentenced a bricklayer, Gabriel Awaye, to life imprisonment for defiling a 13-year-old girl in his room.
His name will also be registered in the Sexual Offenders Register as maintained by the Lagos State Government.
On its verified X (former Twitter) handle @Lagosdsva, the agency reiterates the state’s zero tolerance stance to child defilement or rape, and insists that there is help for sexual assault survivors, even as it remains committed to ensuring that perpetrators are held accountable for their actions.
Justice Abiola Soladoye of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, Ikeja, on Wednesday, sentenced the bricklayer, Gabriel Awaye, to life imprisonment for defiling his 13-year-old victim in his room.
The judge sentenced him after finding him guilty as charged by the state government.
The prosecutor had stated that Awaye committed the offences on June 2, 2021, at Agbawaye Street, Command area of Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area of Lagos.
His offences, according to the prosecution, contravened the provision of Sections 127 and 261 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
In her judgment, Justice Soladoye said the prosecution proved the ingredients of the two counts of defilement and sexual assault against the defendant.
The judge held that the survivor was lucid and unambiguous while giving her evidence before the court, noting that her testimony corroborated those of the other prosecution witnesses.
“The Prosecution Witness (PW) 1 (the survivor) testified before this court that she was at her grandmother’s place when her friend, Rofiat, told her that her sister sent for her.
“The witness narrated that when she got to the place, she did not meet her sister, but saw the defendant who pushed her on the mat and sodomised her.
“The evidence of the defendant is laced with lies as he tried to detach himself from the offence by saying the mother of the survivor tried to have sexual relationship with him.
“To the mind of this court, the prosecution witnesses were truthful in their testimonies and their evidence were corroborated,” the judge said; adding, “The judge, upon evidence before the court, found Awaye guilty of the two charges.”
Continuing in her judgment, Justice Soladoye said, “The survivor identified the defendant as the man who defiled her while she was 13 years old. The defendant is hereby found guilty and is sentenced to life imprisonment on each of the two counts.
“The defendant, by his audacious sexual recklessness, was not fit to be in the community of civilised people, and should be locked away for life.
“He should have his name registered in the Lagos State Sexual Offences Register,” the court held.
