* We must stop sexual exploitation against girls/minors, judge tells stakeholders
Justice Kolawole Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Sokoto has sentenced a rapist, Yashua’u Shehu of Atakwanyo village in Kware local government area of Sokoto State to 10 years imprisonment for defiling a three-year- old girl (name withheld) in Sokoto without option of fine.
The judge also ordered Shehu to pay N500,000 fine as compensation to the innocent toddler.
Delivering his judgment, Justice Omotosho decried incidences of sexual exploitation against minors, saying that it is disturbing that the development is now rampant in the North.
The judge therefore appealed to parents, stakeholders and governments at all levels to rise up in defence of these vulnerable children.
Justice Omotosho said, “It is the duty of all of us to put a stop to the menace of sexual exploitation,”
The judge said the case marked FHC/S/22C/2021 was brought by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Person (NAPTIP), Sokoto Zonal Command- FRN v.Yusha’u Sa’idu over procurement to commit sexual exploitation of a three-year old minor girl.
The charge against the convict reads in part, “That you, 20 years old, Yushua’ u Shehu (male) of Atakwanyo, Kware Area, Kware local government of Sokoto State at around 4pm on or about May 27, 2021, procured a 3-year-old female (names withheld) of Minanata area of Sokoto State, took her to one Hajiya’s house closed to Minanata area Sokoto State and you subjected her to sexual exploitation with yourself. You thereby commit an offence punishable under section 16(1) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015”.
Justice Omotosho further held that his judgment was based on complaints from the parents of the survivor, medical examination obtained from Nana Khadija Sexual Referral center as well as testimonies of
PW3 and PW4 and that of Doctor Auwal Musa, the medical officer that examined the girls which proved beyond reasonable doubt that the convict procured the survivor for sexual exploitation.
Before reading the sentence after the conviction of Shehu, the lawyer to the Legal Aid Council headed by its Sokoto State head, Bar Shetima, appealed to the court to temper justice with mercy on grounds that the accused is a first time offender.
Shetima also informed the court that the accused equally have aged parents to cater for.
He said, “In addition, the accused is a young man with bright future ahead. When given opportunity, he might be a better citizen through repentance”.
But Justice Omotosho sentenced Shehu to 10 years imprisonment without an option of fine. The judge also directed Shehu to pay N500,000.00 compensation for the survivor.
