A Lagos court has sentenced a trader to life imprisonment for kidnapping and sexually abusing his 13-year-old neighbor whom he kept locked in his room for 11 days.
Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja handed down the verdict after finding Abdullahi Sale guilty of a two-count charge of defilement and abduction.
The prosecution told the court that the offences violated sections 137 and 268 of the Lagos State Criminal Law, 2015.
Section 137 prescribes life imprisonment for child defilement, showing the state legislature’s intention to treat such crimes very seriously.
The convict, who lived in a “face-me-I-face-you” house at 18 Agunbiade Street, Kirikiri Town, Apapa, was accused of convincing the JSS1 student to enter his room, sexually abusing her and keeping her in his apartment for 11 days.
The survivor’s mother testified that her daughter went missing after they returned from church. During this time, Sale reportedly came to ask about the girl multiple times, pretending to be concerned, while keeping her locked in his room in the same compound.
According to the mother, a naval officer eventually found the girl sitting alone on the street and took her to the police station. The girl then led officers to Sale’s room, revealing that he had imprisoned her, fed her with instant noodles, and provided containers for urination and defecation.
The survivor, who was 14 years old when she testified in November 2022, stated that she had never entered Sale’s room before the incident. She described how she entered and then found herself locked inside a dark room for about a week.
A nurse and midwife, Nwoke Okoi Oluchi, who testified as the third prosecution witness, presented a medical report from the Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF) Centre in Yaba.
The report showed significant vaginal discharge, bruising, healed lacerations, and an intact hymen. It concluded that these findings were consistent with forced vaginal penetration, noting that the girl had been sexually assaulted twice while confined in Sale’s room.
Sale, who testified in his own defense, denied the allegations. He claimed that the girl approached him asking for N15,000 to get an abortion, initially saying it was for a friend, before allegedly admitting she was pregnant for a barber named Samuel.
In his judgment, Justice Oshodi dismissed Sale’s testimony as “wholly incredible,” describing it as implausible, internally contradictory, and inconsistent with proven facts.
The judge found that the prosecution proved the girl was 13 at the time, making her a child under the Child Rights Law.
He also stated she was detained in the defendant’s room for 11 days, and that a child cannot legally consent to such detention for sexual reasons.
“The circumstances, considered together with the medical evidence of vaginal penetration, permit only one rational conclusion: the defendant engaged in sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix during her confinement,” the court held.
Justice Oshodi further described the crimes as “grievous,” emphasizing that Sale had betrayed his neighbor’s trust and worsened the family’s distress by pretending to help search for the girl while holding her in his room and sexually abusing her.
He stated that section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State prescribes life imprisonment for child defilement, reflecting the legislature’s intent to treat such crimes with utmost severity.
“Abdullahi Sale, on count one, the offence of defilement contrary to section 137 of the Criminal Law, I sentence you to life imprisonment. On count two, the offence of abduction contrary to section 268 of the same law, I sentence you to seven years’ imprisonment,” Justice Oshodi declared.
“The sentence on count two shall run from the date of your remand in custody on 17 September 2021. Both sentences shall run concurrently, which means you shall serve life imprisonment,” the judge stated.
The judge also ordered that Sale’s name be entered into the Sex Offenders Register in accordance with sections 33 and 38 of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency Law, 2021.
