The Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Monday sentenced Sunday Uche, a 21-year-old groundnut trader, to life imprisonment for defiling a four year-old-girl

Justice Ramon Oshodi held that the prosecution was able to prove the offence of defilement against the convict without reasonable doubt, stating that the defendant’s actions were heinous and deserving of the maximum punishment under the law.

Uche was remanded in custody on February 1, 2017, on a count of defilement by penetration preferred against him by the state, to which he pleaded not guilty.

According to the prosecution counsel, I.D. Solarin, the offence committed by Uche contravenes Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State

The court heard that the incident occurred on February 2, 2017, in the house of the convict.

Uche, who worked as a groundnut trader, defiled the minor in his home after she came to beg for groundnuts

“I was at home when one small boy brought a four-year-old girl to my house to beg for groundnuts, so I decided to have sexual intercourse with her. After everything, I gave her some groundnuts. The small baby cried. I knew what I was doing was wrong but I was so eager, but I did not release inside the vagina. After releasing sperm, I became weak, surprisingly the mother of the girl came to

my house to look for me,” he said.

The victim’s mother reported the crime to the authorities, leading to Uche’s arrest.

PUNCH Metro gathered that during cross-examination, Uche presented a starkly different account of the event that happened on February 2, 2017. But once he was presented with judicial Exhibit E, a statement made by him on February 3, 2017, at the State Criminal Investigation Department, the overall case significantly shifted.

Delivering his judgment, Justice Oshodi Ramon held that the evidence presented found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, under Sections 135i and 139 of the Criminal Law of Lagos