From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
A high court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital has sentenced a middle aged man, Okpani Amah to ten years imprisonment for defiling 2 year old girl in Owutu, Edda local government area of the state.
The judgement was delivered at the weekend.
The two year old girl is among the children living in same compound with the man in Ufueseni Owutu community in the local government.
The little girl and other children in the compound, welcomed Okpani on 5th August, 2023 on his way from a marriage ceremony.
But Okpani defiled the girl who is his relative when other children left him after welcoming him from the ceremony.
Her grandmother she lives with, while bathing the girl, noticed she was in sever pains , feeling so uncomfortable, complaining her anus was paining her and asked what happened to her,.
The girl replied that it was Okpani that inserted his penis into her private part.
The woman, Rosemary Amah Ajah, took the girl to the accused and insisted he sponsor her treatment at Ufueseni Owutu Edda health center but he refused, claiming that he had no money.
The matter was reported to the police in Owutu police division in the community and was transferred to Abakaliki.
Okpani was arraigned by the police before a Magistrate court sitting in the capital city which reminded him and ordered that the case file be transmitted to a high court for necessary action.
This led to his trial by a high court. The high court presided by Justice Solange Francis – Abba found Okpani guilty of the offence and sentenced him to ten years imprisonment without option of fine.
However, throughout Okpani’s arraigment and trial, the girl’s family including her mother, refused to appear in court on the ground that the man is their relative.
The Prosecuting Counsel, Mrs. Ijeoma Mike- Ajanwachukwu , Assistant State Counsel in the state Ministry of Justice, hailed the judgement.
She identified negligence on the part of parents/guardians as major cause of abuses on children which she said was on the increase.
“The victim and the convict are related and that was why the family refused to give evidence in court.
” The little girl was living with her grandmother Mrs Rosemary Amah Ajah at Ufueseni Owutu community in Edda local government area of the state .
So,on the 5th day of August, 2023 the woman while bathing the little girl of two years, noticed she was in sever pains , feeling so uncomfortable, complaining her anus was paining her. When asked what happened to her,she said it was Okpani that inserted his penis.
“So the woman took her grandchild to the accused and insisted he sponsor her( the raped minor) treatment at Ufuesen Owutu Edda health center but he refused with a claim that he had no money,that was when the matter was reported to the police in Owutu.
“From there the matter came to Abakaliki ,the man was arraigned and till now nobody saw this family. I was able to get phone number of the biological mother of the victim who lives at Aba in Abia state and she said” I have no case with anybody I have taken my child to stay with me”.
“She was living in Aba and left her underaged child with her old mother in the village. I got phone numbers of Rosemary Amah Ajah and Jonah Amah Ajah from the case file as well as their statements but both of them refused to appear in court for evidence.
“Despite all odds ,I decided to continue the prosecution considering age of that girl. With the man’s confessional statements and police who recorded it,we were able to secure conviction.
“In the confessional statements he admitted to have committed the offence because he got drunk at the marriage ceremony he attended earlier that day, hence he was not aware of his actions.
“I advise parents to be more careful about their children especially underaged ones. If not that that little girl was crying complaining that her private part was paining her,they wouldn’t have known that the man had sex with her via the anus.
“Parents of these days are too careless . The more careful they become,the less these child abuse stories will be heard. Imagine a child of two years straying to somebody ‘s room without her guardian/ parents”, she said.