Court sentence four rapists to 95 years imprisonment in Niger

By Wole Mosadomi.
Minna- A Minna Senior Magistrate Court number four has sentenced four rapists to ninety five years imprisonment after being found guilty  of gang-raping and impregnating  thirteen year old girl.
The convicts are Salisu Shehu Baura, Lawali Shaibu, Haruna Musa  Saidu and Bello  all of Kontagora town in Niger State.
One of them, Bello who was sentenced in absential is now at large after being  granted bail.
They were arrested by men of the Kontagora Divisional Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and brought to the State Command headquarters for full prosecution.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), made available in court and obtained by journalists, the convicts were arraigned on count charges of joint act and unlawful sexual intercourse  with a child, punishable under section 97 of the penal code law and section 26 (1) of the Child Right law of Niger State 23.
They were said to have taken turns to rape the underaged under threat and gave her N1,400 after the act.
During the trial, the Prosecutor called three witnesses which include the victim, her Father and the investigative Civil Defence who investigated the case and five exhibits were tendered.
Among the evidence tendered were the video recorded statement of the convicts,their written statement, the statement of the victim, the medical report of the penetration and the voice record of the convicts.
The presiding Senior Magistrate, Christy Umar Barau,who handed down the judgement described the act of the convicts as “animalistic and heartless”.
She recalled that the convicts were some times in 2023,arraigned by men of the Niger State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for gang- raping a thirteen year old girl in Kontagora Niger State.
The defence counsel, Mohammed Jibrin Lemu had pleaded on behalf of the convicts for the Senior Magistrate to temper justice with Mercy as the convicts have shown remorse throughout their  trial in court.
While passing her judgement,Christy Umar Barau noted that “though the convicts really showed remorse throughout the trial but that it does not mean they should go unpunished.
According to her, “the case of unlawful sexual intercourse  with a child is a serious case especially that the case of rape is on the increase.
“The act of these convicts is animalistic and inhuman and heartless. The court will therefore not be fair to the victim if appropriate punishment is not served on them  to serve as a deterrent to others. “The first, the second and the third convicts are hereby convicted and sentenced to twenty years behind the correctional Custody for the offence of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child and five years for the offence of joint act,while the fourth convict now at large is to serve twenty years for the offence of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child” she ruled.
Meanwhile, the State government has described the judgment as a major breakthrough in its fight against rape, child abuse and other forms of sexual violence in the state.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Services, Hajiya Hadiza Idris Kuta, made this known while reacting to the court judgment, saying, “it is a victory for justice and a strong warning to perpetrators of sexual offences.