Magistrate Court sitting in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa capital has sentenced a 40-year old man, identified as Godbless from Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, to eight years in prison for defiling underage boy and girl.
The Chief Magistrate, Utovie Spiff convicted the suspect on two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse of a four-year-old girl and unlawful carnal knowledge of a five-year-old boy.
It was learnt that similar cases were swept under the carpet or either settled out of court owing parent’s inability to pursue the case due to inability to raise fund, but for the International Federation of Women Lawyers’ (FIDA), effort on the case of Godbless taken to the police, led to his conviction.
The pedophile, who specialises in defiling minors and getting off the hook, was said to have striped the boy nude and forced his manhood into his anus, and the little girl’s genital was violated, as tear resulted to blood spotting on the anus of the boy and the private part of girl.
The parent of the minors would have also been cheated, as they were on the verge of settling out of court owing financial constraint to pursue the case and obtain justice for assaults on their children.
But luck ran out on him when on September 15, the Chairperson of FIDA in Bayelsa, Dise Ogbise-Erhisere was contacted by a concerned indigene, who reported a new case of the man’s escapades to her.
Ogbise, in company with two lawyers and members of FIDA, Boma Miebai and Amaso Daniel reportedly lodged a formal complaint on the matter to the Ekeki Police Station in Yenagoa.
The police were said to have arrested the man, arraigned him on Tuesday before the court, where he pleaded guilty to the two counts.
Expressing delight over the judgment Ogbise-Erhisere said it is victory for FIDA Bayelsa and a warning to pedophiles, child molesters and abusers.
Ogbise-Erhisere, who was also the complainant in the matter, said she was happy with the speedy dispensation of justice on the case.
She explained that she got a distress call from a concerned neighbor following the defilement of the boy.
“I was informed by neighbours that the convict is a serial molester of children where and that the mother of the four-year old girl caught him having carnal knowledge of her daughter”, she said.
She commended the police for swiftly arresting and arraigning the man and praised the members of the Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Bayelsa, for their roles in treating the victims.
To this end, she warned those indulging in the act of molesting minors to quit as the arm of the law would soon catch up them, even as she noted that Godbless jail term should serve as deterrent to others.
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