The Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, sitting in Ikeja, has sentenced a 79-year-old carpenter, Olagbade Jeremiah, to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl. Justice Abiola Soladoye held that the prosecution successfully proved the offence of defilement against the convict without reasonable doubt.
Olagbade Jeremiah was arraigned on a count of sexual assault by penetration under Section 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. The lead prosecution counsel, Olusola Soneye, Director of Public Prosecutions, presented evidence that the convict sexually assaulted the victim by inserting his finger into her vagina in his workshop in the Mammy Barracks Market in the Ojo area of Lagos State in 2021.
During the trial, three witnesses, including the victim, testified. The victim explained that she used to hawk sachet water, and the convict would buy all the sachets whenever she couldn’t sell everything. She testified that Jeremiah would give her N100 each time he committed the act.
Justice Soladoye noted that the victim did not disclose the incident to anyone out of fear of her mother’s punishment. The judge stated that the victim’s mother later found out and beat her, giving her sachet water to hawk as punishment. The convict initially denied knowing the victim, but under cross-examination, he admitted knowing her through her mother.
Describing the convict as a “pathological liar,” Justice Soladoye found the evidence of the prosecution witnesses believable and truthful. The judge emphasized that the victim’s testimony was corroborated by other witnesses, establishing the offence of sexual assault by penetration. She condemned the actions of both the convict and the victim’s mother, stating that the defendant had taken advantage of a 12-year-old girl. Jeremiah was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, and his name will be registered in the Lagos State Sexual Offences Register.
