- Safiu Kehinde
The Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court has sentenced Olumuyiwa Adjoto to life imprisonment after being convicted of defiling his wife’s six-year-old niece.
Adjoto bagged the life sentence in a verdict delivered on Monday by the presiding judge, Justice Rahman Oshodi.
As disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (LSDVA), the state Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had prosecuted Adjoto for the offences of defilement, sexual assault by penetration, and indecent treatment of a child.
Justice Oshodi ruled that the prosecution proved two of the three counts against Adjoto beyond a reasonable doubt.
He declared Adjoto guilty of defilement and sexual assault by penetration but discharged him on the third count of indecent treatment of a child.
During the trial, the State Counsel, Bukola Okeowo, called four witnesses: the survivor, her mother, a medical officer, and an investigative police officer.
Adjoto testified in his own defence as the sole defence witness.
During the convict’s arraignment, the prosecutor, Okeowo, told the court that Adjoto committed the offences on April 22nd, 2022, around 1:00 PM, opposite Erubami House along Primary School Road, Mowo, Badagry, Lagos.
She stated that he assaulted the child after his wife left home for the market and left the girl in his care.
In his judgement, Justice Oshodi described the offences as grave, noting that the injuries inflicted on the child might never fully heal.
According to the medical expert, the immediate effects include fear, difficulty trusting people, social withdrawal, possible urinary incontinence, and declining academic performance, and long-term psychological consequences could include depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and difficulty maintaining relationships, including marital relationships.
These offences contravened Sections 137 and 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, and consequently, the court sentenced Adjoto to life imprisonment on both counts and ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
Meanwhile, the LSDA held that the convict’s name will be registered in the Sexual Offenders Register as maintained by Lagos State in line with Sections 33 and 38 of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency Law, 2021.