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A Lagos High Court has sentenced one Samuel Ademola Oladimeji to life imprisonment for the offense of sexual assault by penetration of his three children.
Justice Abiola Sholadoye of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja who gave the judgment held that the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses were unshaken but stated that the defendant’s testimony did not add up because he was simply trying to distance himself from the allegations.
Five witnesses had testified for the Lagos State Government who prosecuted the case. Three of the witnesses were the children of the perpetrators who had been sexually abused. The other two were their mother and the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) from Ilupeju Police Station, Family Support Unit.
The matter was initially reported to Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA), after the mother noted that the children complained about pain in their private parts. They were then referred to the Mirabel Centre for medical evaluation and the medical report confirmed that all girls had been sexually assaulted.
The court in its judgment held that the children were indeed sexually assaulted by penetration and the prosecution had successfully discharged the onus of proving beyond reasonable doubt the commission of the offence.
Justice Soladoye sentenced the perpetrator to 3 concurrent life imprisonment sentences. The judge also ordered that the name of the convict be entered into the Lagos State Sexual Offences Register.
In its reaction to the sentence, DSVA commended the family of the survivors for staying the cause even as the agency reiterated the State’s Zero Tolerance Stance for Sexual and Gender Based Violence.
The agency also insists that there is help for survivors saying “the wheel of justice is turning and perpetrators of these heinous crimes would be held
accountable for their actions”.
