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A Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting at Ikeja, Lagos State, has sentenced to 37 years imprisonment a man, Moses Joseph, for forcing a 13-year-old girl to suck his pen!s and inserting his finger in her private parts.
The trial judge, Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo, held that the state proved its case against the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt.
Justice Taiwo held that from available evidence, the defendant was guilty of the crime.
The Lagos State Government arraigned Joseph on two counts of indecent treatment.
The prosecution said the defendant committed the offence at his house on 25, Kadiri Street, Alausa, Ikeja, on September 17, 2021, around 11pm.
In his allocutus, the defence counsel, Mr Henry Obidinna, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.
Obidinna told court that the convict was the breadwinner of his family and his younger brother died of shock after he heard of Joseph’s arrest.
He added that the incident had been kept away from his aged mother.
Asked if he had anything to tell the court, the convict pleaded for mercy.
The judge said, “On the first count, I sentence you to seven years imprisonment. On the second count, I sentence you to 30 years imprisonment, which will run concurrently.”
Meanwhile, in another development, operatives of the Marine Department, Bayelsa Police Command, have foiled an attack on a passenger boat and rescued four passengers onboard along the Nembe-Brass waterways.
The Command, in a statement, by its spokesman Asinim Butswat said the incident occurred on Wednesday while marine police operatives were on patrol of the Nembe-Brass waterways.
Butswat, a Superintendent of Police, said: “On 17 August 2022 at about 1730 hours, operatives of the Marine Department of the Bayelsa State Police Command, while on patrol along the Nembe- Brass waterways came under attack by sea pirates who were robbing passengers and attempting to kidnap some of them in a speedboat named Tari Marine 2.
“The operatives repelled the attack, subdued the pirates by their superior firepower and rescued the passengers.
“The pirates ran to a nearby creek and escaped with bullet wounds. They abandoned their speedboat, with one military camouflage, one bulletproof jacket and one cutlass.”
The spokesman said Police Commissioner, Ben Nebolisa Okolo, had ordered the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to carry out a discreet investigation to unravel the identity of the sea pirates.