{"id":57308,"date":"2024-11-04T19:06:08","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T19:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/cleric-bags-life-imprisonment-for-defiling-minor\/"},"modified":"2024-11-04T19:06:08","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T19:06:08","slug":"cleric-bags-life-imprisonment-for-defiling-minor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/cleric-bags-life-imprisonment-for-defiling-minor\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleric bags life imprisonment for defiling minor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Monday sentenced an Islamic cleric, Alani Rafiu, to life imprisonment for defiling a 14-year-old year girl (name withheld).<\/p>\n

In his judgement, Justice Rahman Oshodi held that the prosecution proved each of the ingredients of defilement against Rafiu.<\/p>\n

Oshodi said that the gravity of the convict\u2019s offence could not be overstated as he betrayed the trust placed on him as a religious instructor and family friend.<\/p>\n

He said the convict\u2019s conduct represented a profound violation of secular and religious principles.<\/p>\n

According to him, the evidence before the court reveals a calculated pattern of predatory behaviour.<\/p>\n

The court held that the convict deliberately isolated the victim, exploited her vulnerability and bought her silence with money.<\/p>\n

The judge said: \u201cYou betrayed the trust placed in you as a religious instructor and family friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of nurturing and protecting a vulnerable 14-year-old child entrusted in your spiritual care, you repeatedly sexually abused her in a place of worship.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe physical and psychological trauma inflicted on this young girl is immeasurable.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt an age when she should be focused on her education and development, she was subjected to experiences that no child should endure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oshodi further said that there was compelling and consistent proof establishing that the victim was a child and the evidence manifested through multiple sources.<\/p>\n

He said the victim, in her evidence, provided a specific, detailed and first-hand account of sexual intercourse with the convict.<\/p>\n

According to him, the evidence of the victim was corroborated by the medical report which showed penile penetration.<\/p>\n

He said the convict abused religious authority and the sacred space of a mosque to perpetrate sexual violations against the survivor.<\/p>\n

The court maintained that places of worship should be sanctuaries of safety and spiritual growth, not venues for the exploitation of children.<\/p>\n

Oshodi said: \u201cThe prosecution gave evidence that the defendant had sex with her three times in the mosque.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe medical evidence and the prosecutor\u2019s testimony paint a disturbing picture of the physical harm you caused.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bleeding she experienced and your callous provision of a handkerchief to clean up the evidence of your abuse demonstrate a shocking disregard for her well-being.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis court must protect children from sexual predators and send a clear message that such conduct will be met with the full force of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court, subsequently, convicted Rafiu and sentenced him to life imprisonment.<\/p>\n

The court also ordered that his name be registered in the sexual offences register as maintained by the Lagos State Government.<\/p>\n

The state counsel, led by Mr Babajide Boye, called three witnesses through whom several documents were tendered while the convict testified as a sole witness.<\/p>\n

The prosecution submitted that the convict committed the offence on August 17, 2021, in Ikotun, Lagos.<\/p>\n

The offence contravenes Section 137 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State.<\/p>\n

Cleric bags life imprisonment for defiling minor<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Monday sentenced an Islamic cleric, Alani Rafiu, to life imprisonment for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13706,614,384,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cleric","category-court","category-metro","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}