Admin I Wednesday, Nov.01, 2023
LAGOS, Nigeria – In a recent ruling at the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, a bricklayer named Gabriel Awaye was handed down two life sentences for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in his room.
Justice Abiola Soladoye declared that the prosecution successfully proved charges of defilement and sexual assault against Awaye. She asserted that the defendant’s audacious sexual misconduct rendered him unfit for civil society and warranted a life imprisonment sentence.
Justice Soladoye noted that the survivor’s testimony was clear and unequivocal. Additionally, her account was supported by other prosecution witnesses.
The judge recapped the survivor’s testimony, explaining that she had been at her grandmother’s place when her friend, Rofiat, informed her that her sister had requested her presence. Upon arriving at the location, the survivor did not find her sister but encountered the defendant, who pushed her onto a mat and sexually assaulted her.
Justice Soladoye deemed the defendant’s defense full of falsehoods, including an attempt to distance himself from the crime by alleging that the survivor’s mother had initiated a sexual relationship with him.
In light of the compelling evidence presented during the trial, the court found Awaye guilty on both counts. The survivor positively identified the defendant as the individual who had assaulted her when she was 13 years old.
As a result, the defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment for each of the two counts, and his name would be registered in the Lagos State Sexual Offences Register.
During the trial, the state counsel, Ms. Abimbola Abolade, presented three witnesses, while the convict testified as the sole witness.
The prosecutor maintained that the convict had committed the offenses on June 2, 2021, at Agbawaye Street, Command, Agbado Oke-Odo, Lagos. These actions were in violation of Sections 127 and 261 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2015.
