A Lagos High Court has sentenced Samuel Ademola Oladimeji to life imprisonment for the sexual assault by penetration on his three children.
The ruling was delivered by Justice Abiola Sholadoye of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja.
Justice Sholadoye, while delivering the verdict, stated that the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses were unshaken and compelling.
She noted that the defendant’s testimony did not align with the evidence presented, as he appeared to be attempting to distance himself from the allegations.
The case, prosecuted by the Lagos State Government, relied on the accounts of five witnesses. Among them were the three children who had suffered sexual abuse at the hands of their father, as well as their mother and the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) from Ilupeju Police Station, Family Support Unit.
The ordeal came to light when the mother reported the matter to the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA). Alarmed by complaints of pain in the children’s private parts, the agency referred the victims to the Mirabel Centre for medical evaluation. The subsequent medical report confirmed the disturbing fact that all three girls had been sexually assaulted.
Justice Sholadoye, in her judgement, ruled that the children had indeed been subjected to sexual assault by penetration and the prosecution had successfully discharged the onus of proving beyond reasonable doubt the commission of the offence.
The court then sentenced Oladimeji to three concurrent life imprisonment terms and ordered that the convict’s name be entered into the Lagos State Sexual Offences Register. (Guardian)