A Delta State High Court has sentenced 40-year-old Bureau de Change operator Abubakar Mohammed to life imprisonment for raping a nine-year-old girl in Asaba, Oshimili South Local Government Area.
The Delta State Ministry of Justice prosecuted Mohammed under Sections 3(1)(a) and 4(1) of the Delta State Violence Against Persons Law, 2020, in Charge No. DTHC/ASB/CR/26/2025.
Delivering judgment, Justice Onome Marshal-Umukoro ruled that the prosecution, led by Mrs Victoria Ibegbulem, Principal State Counsel in the Ministry of Justice’s Sexual Offences Unit, had established all the key elements of the offence beyond reasonable doubt.
The court relied mainly on the victim’s direct evidence, which was backed by medical evidence, before finding Mohammed guilty of rape.
While passing sentence, Justice Marshal-Umukoro considered the victim’s age and vulnerability, the abuse of trust, the circumstances of the offence and evidence of an earlier abuse allegedly accompanied by threats to the victim’s life.
The court said these factors justified a punishment above the statutory minimum.
Mohammed was therefore sentenced to life imprisonment without an option of a fine.
The court also ordered that his name, photograph and other details be entered in the Register of Convicted sex Offenders maintained by the Office of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Delta State.
It further ordered that the register be accessible to members of the public.
