The Lagos Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja has sentenced Oluwafemi Asekeji, a 34-year-old businessman, to life in prison for sexually assaulting his 12-year-old daughter.
This was revealed in a statement issued by the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency and acquired by our correspondent on Wednesday.
According to the statement, Justice Abiola Soladoye, the presiding judge, remarked that the prosecution had proven all three elements of Asekeji’s rape case.
According to the statement, close associates of the victim and the offender who witnessed the occurrence testified against the convict, prompting the judge to condemn Asekeji to life in prison.
The prosecutor introduced several significant witnesses, including the convict’s father, mother, and brother, with whom he had left the victim.
The statement quoted the judge as saying, “The survivor, in her testimony, told the court that she was 14 years old, but her father defiled her when she was 12 years old. She testified that she was at home with her father, who was drunk on June 11, 2020, and he instructed her to enter the room and lie on the bed.
“She told this court that her father asked her to take off her clothes, and then he defiled her. She said her father took videos of her and threatened to show the video to people if she told anybody what had happened.”
The court also ruled that the survivor stated that her father urged her to drink salt water after he defiled her.
The judge stated that the survivor told the court that she could not notify anyone earlier because the convict had threatened to kill her if she notified anyone that he had sexually abused her prior to the most recent event on June 11, 2020.
The judge further ruled that the medical report indicated that the survivor had been defiled, as the hymen had been broken.
Soladoye claimed that the convict’s unlawful sexual intercourse with his biological child violated natural law, describing it as an instance of incest that should never be heard of.
The convict’s mother, a petty merchant, was alleged to have testified in court that she came from the market and noticed something peculiar about her granddaughter, prompting her to inquire about what had happened.
During interrogation, the grandmother revealed that the victim told her about the incident.
The victim’s grandmother stated that a report was filed at the Meiran Police Station, and the convict was detained.
However, the Asekeji pleaded not guilty, emphasising that he did not reside with his parents but had access to the house where his daughter lived with his parents.
In response, the court noted that the victim recognised her biological father as the man who had sexual intercourse with her multiple times.
Soladoye said, “Apart from identifying Asekeji as her father, other witnesses confirmed the evidence of the victim. Circumstantial evidence and also a medical report, evidence of the grandmother, evidence of the grandfather, and evidence of her uncle all point to the convict.
Justice Soladoye condemned the defendant to life in prison. She also ordered that the convict’s name be added to the Lagos State Sexual Offenders Registry.
“Oluwafemi Asekeji, you have been found guilty as charged, and you are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment. The convict is to have his name registered in the Lagos State Sexual Offences Register,” the statement concluded.
