High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Wednesday sentenced one Iniobong Okon Moses to life imprisonment for raping his 3-year-old step-daughter in Ikot Akpe, Uyo Local Government Area of the State.
In his judgement, the presiding judge, Justice Okon Okon, found Moses guilty of rape, contrary to Section 367 of the Criminal Code Cap 38, Vol. 2 Laws of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria, 2000.
He described Iniobong Moses, as “a disgrace to humanity, whose conduct falls abysmally even below the conduct of beasts.”
Justice Okon held that by his indefensible and despicable act, the convict has shown himself to be callous and devoid of passion”.
He further held that the convict “does not deserve to walk freely on Nigerian soil and breathe the air of freedom meant for decent members of the society.”
He said, “in her childhood and angelic innocence and vulnerability, the victim could even have been looking at the accused gleefully in naivety expecting no hurt from the accused in loco parentis with her.”
The convict, Iniobong Moses, a native of Afaha Udo Eyop in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area of the State in his confessional statement, said he was drunk and that he “defiled the infant by putting his fingers and penis into the victim’s vagina on 8th November, 2019 when his wife left for market.”
The Court rejected the claim by the accused that he was drunk, saying “drunkenness is not an exculpatory defence in Law for the commission of a crime and more so, as it was self inflicted.”
The Police Medical Report shows history of abnormal vaginal discharge and wound on the labium of the victim, a case of sexual assault with genital ulcer and genital tract infection.
The Court held that Moses “deserves to be put away for a long time from public glare to save innocent children from being further brutalized and ravished by him.”
