Thursday, November 14, 2024 -Justice Simo Amobeda of a Federal High Court sitting in Kano, has sentenced a 31-year old man, Lawan Salisu, to three years imprisonment for sexu@lly abusing a 10-year old boy.
Salisu, of Tishama Yan Awakai Farin Bene Transformer in Nassarawa Local
Government, Kano State, was convicted on a one-count charge of procurement and
s#xual exploitation after he pleaded guilty to the charge. While delivering
judgment today November 13, Justice Amobeda held that the prosecution had
proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
“The offence is punishable by not less than seven years imprisonment and
a fine of N1 million. I have tempered justice with mercy as a first time
offender, according to the Administration of Criminal Justice Act. I hereby
sentence the convict to three years imprisonment without option of fine. This
will serve as a deterrent to others as cases like this are becoming prevalent”
he said.
He urged the convict to tender an apology to the victim and his family.
Earlier, Mr Hassan Nuruddeen, prosecution counsel, National Agency for
the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Kano Command, said the
defendant committed the offence at Tishama Awakai Farin Bene Transformer Kano,
on June 26.
Nuruddeen said that on the same date the defendant procured the
minor and sexually exploited him by defilement, in an uncompleted building at
Tishama.
The prosecution presented four exhibits, including the confessional
statement of the convict, and the victim’s testimony to the court, to prove his
case.
He said the offence contravened the provisions of Section 16(1) of the
Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015
and was punishable under Section 26(1) of TIP ACT 2015.
The defence counsel, Mr Inuwa Umar-Ibrahim, however pleaded for leniency
on behalf of the convict, as a first-time offender.
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