A Delta State High Court has sentenced a 40-year-old Bureau de Change operator, Abubakar Mohammed, to life imprisonment for raping a nine-year-old girl in Asaba, Oshimili South Local Government Area.
Mohammed was prosecuted by the Delta State Ministry of Justice under Sections 3(1)(a) and 4(1) of the Delta State Violence Against Persons Law, 2020, in Charge No. DTHC/ASB/CR/26/2025.
Delivering judgment, Justice Onome Marshal-Umukoro held that the prosecution, led by Mrs Victoria Ibegbulem, Principal State Counsel in the Sexual Offences Unit of the Ministry of Justice, had proved all the essential elements of the offence beyond reasonable doubt.
The court relied principally on the direct evidence of the victim, which was supported by corroborative medical evidence, before finding Mohammed guilty of rape as charged.
In determining the sentence, Justice Marshal-Umukoro considered the victim’s age and vulnerability, the abuse of trust, the circumstances surrounding the offence and evidence of a previous abuse allegedly accompanied by threats to the victim’s life.
The court held that the circumstances warranted a sentence beyond the statutory minimum.
Mohammed was consequently sentenced to life imprisonment without an option of a fine.
The court also ordered that his name, photograph and other particulars be entered in the Register of Convicted Sex Offenders maintained by the Office of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Delta State.
It further directed that the register be made accessible to members of the public.
