A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a 33-year-old motorcyclist, Michael Ahmed to life imprisonment for raping his passenger.
According to report, the passenger was a minor as at the time the convict committed the offences of rape and serious assault in 2013.
In his judgement, Justice Hakeem Oshodi, said that the prosecution had succeeded in proving the case against the defendant beyond reasonable doubts.
Justice Oshodi noted that the evidence of the victim was concise and clear while the defendant’s evidence was distorted before the court.
The judge noted that the convict tried to distort the facts in the timing of the incident, how he got to the police station and the name he was called on the day of the incident.
Justice Oshodi stated that there is a clear evidence before the court that the defendant forced himself on the survivor, and there is also proof that the convict bit the survivor on the shoulder.
“The defendant is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment which is the statutory sentence for rape and three years jail term for serious assault. This should take effect from July 25, 2013 he had been in detention,” the court ruled.
Earlier before sentencing, the convict counsel, Mr Ramon Bashir, in his allocutus, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, noting that the defendant had no prior criminal record.
“My Lord the convict is a young man who I believe has turned a new leaf. My Lord, the convict is pleading before the court to temper Justice with mercy,” he prayed.
Responding to his plea, Justice Oshodi ruled that the court has clearly considered the allocutus presented by the defence counsel, however, the offence of rape is mandatory and the court has no power to pronounce a lesser oallocator
During the trial, four witnesses including, the survivor, her father, an investigative police officer and a medical doctor from the Ikorodu General Hospital testified for the prosecution while the convict, his sister and a vigilante who knew the convict, testified for the defence.
