The Special Offences and Domestic Violence Court, Ikeja, on Tuesday, convicted a man, Ndedigwe Paul, to double life imprisonment for sexual assault of minors, following a comprehensive trial that sought justice for the victims.
The convict was handed down the sentence by Justice Abiola Soladoye on January 30, 2024, who, after a careful consideration of the evidence presented, found the defendant guilty on two out of the three-count charges of defilement and unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor contravening Section 137 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2015.
According to a report, Ndedigwe lured the victims who were in kindergarten class and ages six and seven respectively at that time into his room and had unlawful sexual intercourse with them. PUNCH Metro gathered that he engaged in the indecent act by inserting his finger in the victims’ private parts, and having carnal knowledge of the victims individually while the other watched.
When he was arraigned on February 14, 2023, he pleaded not guilty to the three-count charges of defilement of minors ages six and seven respectively.
Throughout the trial, the prosecution, led by Olufunke Adegoke and A.P Bolanle, presented a compelling case, and the victims were asked to testify. Each of the victims aged six and seven respectively described the gory incident and identified Ndedigwe as the man who invited them to his room and acted in an indecent manner with them before proceeding to have unlawful sexual intercourse with them on his bed.
The judge, Abiola Soladoye, described the man as “a rough, crude, greedy, paedophile and a destiny destroyer for corrupting the morals of the young girls and such an act must be punished so as to act as a deterrent to other paedophile.”
She further explained that the victims are minors and not of the lawful age to give consent.
Soladoye found the defendant guilty of two out of the three counts charge alleged against him and sentenced him to life imprisonment for count one and count two respectively.
Ndedigwe was sent immediately to the Ikoyi correctional centre to serve his sentence concurrently.