2 hours ago
2 ARTICLE AD
A 30-year-old barber, Rasaq Akinyemi, was, on Tuesday, convicted and sentenced to nine years imprisonment by an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.
Justice Rahman Oshodi handed down the jail term after Akinyemi pleaded guilty to the amended two counts of indecent treatment of a child and sexual assault.
The judge, while delivering the judgment, noted that the offences which Akinyemi had entered a plea bargain agreement for were a serious offence that had caused significant harm to the young survivor who trusted him as a family member.
Oshodi, however, held that the convict had expressed genuine remorse for his actions.
The judge said: “You have explained while in custody that you have made commendable efforts to rehabilitate yourself, learning the trade of barbing and pursuing your studies.
“Your active participation in the Muslim society, where you serve as one of the imams, demonstrates your attempt to reform and maintain a spiritual connection.
“Your expression that you ‘do not want to be useless’ but rather ‘want to be useful’ to society shows insight into the need for personal transformation.
“The prosecution has rightly emphasised the aggravating factor that you were in a position of trust as a relative to the victim.”
The court further held that it had carefully weighed all factors, including the severity of the offences, breach of trust, guilty plea, genuine remorse and concrete steps towards rehabilitation.
“I am persuaded to order that you serve 90 per cent of the agreed upon 10-year sentence, which is nine years.
“Accordingly, I sentence you to seven years imprisonment on count one and two years on count two.
“The sentences shall run consecutively for nine years, computed from June 26, 2020, when you were first remanded in custody,” Oshodi said.
The court further ordered that the convict’s name be registered in the sexual offences register of Lagos State.
Akinyemi was arraigned on two counts of defilement and indecent treatment of a child which he had pleaded not guilty to following his arraignment on November 27, 2021.
During the trial, the State Counsel, Ms Olufunmilayo Aluko, called two witnesses, a medical officer and an investigative police officer, through whom a confessional statement of the convict was tendered and it was not objected by defence.
Aluko told the court that the convict committed the offence on June 25, 2020, at No.13 Shiaba Street, Agege, Lagos.
She stated that the convict indecently treated the teenager by taking off her clothes and looking at her private parts.
The prosecutor informed the court on January 30, 2025, that the parties had entered a plea and sentence agreement dated and filed on January 28, 2025. When the matter came up on Tuesday, the convict was re-arraigned on the amended charge.
According to the prosecutor, the offences committed contravened Sections 135 and 263 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
