The Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has sentenced a 40-year-old man, Aniekan Udom, to life imprisonment for raping an eight-year-old boy in Uyo, the state capital.
The court, presided over by Justice Bennett Ilaumo, on Wednesday, held that the accused, a native of Ikot Nkim, in the Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area, was guilty of rape.
The state counsel, Maria Akpan, while reading the facts of the case, told the court that the accused was caught in the act.
According to him, the accused was caught by the victim’s lesson teacher, Iniobong Nta, at the backyard of their residence at Anyan-ikot Street, off Abak Road, Uyo, as he was inserting his penis into the victim’s anus.
Akpan told the court that upon sighting Nta, the accused ran away, but was later apprehended by the police.
The accused, who was a neighbour of the victim’s parents, pleaded guilty to the offence, which was committed on Friday, August 28, 2020.
The police medical report confirmed that the victim was raped and that clinical evaluation indicated that he was in pain and had bruises around his anal region.
Justice Ilaumo, in his judgment, sentenced the accused to life imprisonment.
His verdict: “Upon the charge being read to the accused person and upon his guilty plea after hearing the facts as stated by the state counsel, I enquired of the accused if the facts were true and correct and he admitted that they were. I have aligned the same with Section 1 (1) (a) of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2020, and found that the facts align with the provision of the law therein.
Upon the accused person’s plea, therefore, I find him guilty as charged. The sentence upon conviction for this offence is imprisonment for life.”
