Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, has sentenced a 23-years old man, Iniobong Moses, to life imprisonment for raping his 3-year-old step-daughter at Ikot Akpe village in Uyo Local Government Area of the state.
The Court presided over by Justice Okon Okon held on Wednesday that Moses is guilty of rape, contrary to Section 367 of the Criminal Code Cap 38, Vol. 2 Laws of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria, 2000.
He described the convict as “a disgrace to humanity, whose conduct falls abysmally below even the conduct of beasts.”
According to the judge, “The convict’s indefensible and despicable act has shown that he is callous and devoid of passion”.
He further held that the convict “does not deserve to walk freely on Nigerian soil and breathe the air of freedom meant for decent members of the society.”
“In her childhood and angelic innocence and vulnerability, the victim could even have been looking at the accused gleefully in naivety expecting no hurt from the accused in loco parentis with her.”
The convict, a native of Afaha Udo Eyop in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area of the state had, in his confessional statement, said he was drunk and that he “defiled the infant by putting his fingers and penis into the victim’s vagina on 8th November 2019 when his wife left for the market.”
However, the Court rejected the claim that he was drunk, saying “drunkenness is not an exculpatory defence in Law for the commission of a crime, and more so, as it was self-inflicted.”
The Police Medical Report indicated a history of abnormal vaginal discharge and wounds on the labium of the victim, a case of sexual assault with genital ulcer and genital tract infections.
The Court held that Moses “deserves to be put away for a long time from public glare to save innocent children from being further brutalised and ravished by him.”

By Patrick Odey