Kazeem Adedayo, a factory worker, was given a life sentence on Tuesday by an Ikeja Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence Court for inserting his fingers into his neighbor’s 11-year-old daughter’s private area.
In her ruling, Justice Abiola Soladoye stated that the prosecution had successfully proven Adedayo’s accusation of sexual assault by penetration.
According to Soladoye, the survivor’s testimony supported a medical report that the survivor had been repeatedly penetrated.
She said: “Evidence of the Investigative Police Officer (IPO) was also crucial in this case.
“The survivor’s testimony was truthful as she identified the defendant as ‘Baba Jamal’ and gave a vivid account of how he inserted his fingers into her vagina while fetching water in the compound.
“A medical examination which Dr Oyedeji Alagbe carried out also revealed a reddened and bruised vagina as the hymen was almost obliterated.
“The defendant was unable to explain why he was the only one pointed at, in a house full of tenants, as the perpetrator of the heinous crime.
“Evidence of the second defence witness, the defendant’s sister, is unreliable as she does not live with his brother and had no idea when the alleged fingering occurred.”
According to the judge, the survivor could not have consented to any sexual act with the defendant because the prosecution had proven the elements of the case against him.
She continued by saying that the two exhibits A and B which represented the defendant’s and the survivor’s respective statements were clear.
“This honourable court is convinced that the overwhelming evidence is compelling as the survivor identified the defendant in the dock.
“I hereby find the defendant guilty as charged, and he is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment,” Soladoye said.
During the trial, the prosecution called three witnesses under the direction of Mr. Olusola Shoneye, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, while the defence called only two witnesses.
According to the prosecution, the crime was perpetrated on January 12, 2018, at around 2 p.m. on Markati Lane in Oshodi, Lagos State.
The 2015 Lagos State Criminal Law’s Section 261 prohibits sexual assault through penetration.
