Islamic cleric faces life imprisonment for defiling eight-year-old child

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Judge H. O. Oshodi of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja on Monday sentenced an Islamic cleric, Isah Mustapha, to life imprisonment for desecrating a girl child of eight years in the state.

The victim, in her testimony, said the convict had carnal intercourse with her in his home in 2017 when her mother sent her on an errand.

She remembers Mustapha calling her on the way home.

"As I was about to get to our apartment, the defendant called me back and said he wanted to send me to my mother to pick up some onions at her house and that he brings her downstairs. So I went upstairs to get the onions, which my mother gave me to give to the accused downstairs,” she added.

The eight-year-old girl explained that after she handed the onions to Mustapha and was about to go home, the cleric called her back, saying he didn't hadn't finished sending him on an errand.

"He said I had to come into his house, but I said no. Later I came in so he wouldn't tell my father that I had disobeyed him. He then said i had to take my pants off but i said no. Later he took them off himself and his pants too then he slept on top of me. He put his private parts inside me and had sex with me,” she said.

She noted that the incident became public knowledge when her mother tried to gather her clothes to wash them and saw bloodstains on her clothes.

In his testimony, Mustapha admitted sending the victim on an errand, adding that he only inserted his finger into his private parts.

Defence attorney M.O. Ifarinde pleaded with Judge Oshodi to temper justice with mercy as his client was a first-time offender.

However, the prosecutor, B.T. Boye, urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence on the defendant in order to deter others.

The judge, after considering the arguments of the defense and the prosecutor, sentenced the accused to life imprisonment.