Thursday, July 16, 2026 - A 75-year-old man, Promise Chukwumatti, has been sentenced to ten years imprisonment without an option of fine for defiling an 11-year-old girl.
A Rivers State Family Court sitting in Port Harcourt
sentenced today, July 15, 2026.
Justice Rita Oguguo, delivering her judgment, held that the
prosecution had proved the one-count charge of defilement beyond reasonable
doubt through oral testimony, a confessional statement, and other evidence
presented before the court.
The court heard that Chukwumatti lured the girl with gifts
of money on her way to school before having carnal knowledge of her several
times in his apartment.
According to testimony before the court, the convict had
carnal knowledge of the girl multiple times in his apartment after giving her
₦200 either on her way to or from school.
Justice Oguguo noted that the offence ordinarily attracts
life imprisonment, but said the court took into consideration the fact that the
convict’s children are motherless before opting for a ten-year term without the
option of a fine.
The judge described Chukwumatti as “a shame to fatherhood”
and ordered that his name be entered into the Rivers State register of
rapists. She also issued a restraining order barring him and his family from
going near the victim’s family.
In addition to the prison term, the court ordered
Chukwumatti to pay one million naira to the victim’s family as
compensation.
The prosecution had been led by the Chief State Counsel in
the Rivers State Ministry of Justice, Precious Ordu, whose case the court
upheld in its judgment. Ordu welcomed the verdict, saying it would serve as a
deterrent to persons contemplating similar offences.
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