A 40-year-old man simply identified as Aniekan Udom has been sentenced to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of raping an eight-year-old boy in Uyo, the state capital.
The presiding judge of the Akwa Ibom State High Court, Justice Bennett Ilaumo who delivered the judgement, held that the accused, a native of Ikot Nkim, in the Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area, was guilty of rape.
While reading the facts of the case, the state counsel, Maria Akpan, told the court that the accused was caught inserting his penis into the anus of his victim by the lesson teacher of the boy, Iniobong Nta, at the backyard of their residence on Anyan-ikot Street, off Abak Road, Uyo, in broad day light.
The accused, who was a neighbour of the victim’s parents, pleaded guilty to the offence, which was committed on Friday, August 28, 2020.
While delivering judgement, Justice Ilaumo said; “Upon the charge being read to the accused person and upon his guilty plea after hearing the facts as stated by the state counsel, I enquired of the accused if the facts were true and correct and he admitted that they were. I have aligned same with Section 1 (1) (a) of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2020, and found that the facts align with the provision of the law therein.
“Upon the accused person’s plea therefore, I find him guilty as charged. The sentence upon conviction for this offence is imprisonment for life,” he added.
