By Nurudeen Adebayo
God’s power Iporu, a bricklayer, who was alleged and charged with abduction and defilement of his neighbour’s 12-year-old daughter, has been discharged and acquitted by Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence court.
Justice Abiola Soladoye held that the prosecution failed to establish the two-count charge of defilement of a child and abduction from the custody of parents against Mr. Iporu.
Soladoye said the prosecution – Lagos State Government – failed to present the alleged survivor, who should be the star witness, to testify against the defendant.
According to her, the alleged survivor ought to be in court to testify.
She said: “All the evidence adduced before this court, both oral and document, no matter how beautifully presented, cannot lead to the conviction of the defendant in the absence of the star witness to testify as to whether or not she was abducted from the custody of her parents.
“Evidence of the survivor, in this case, is very crucial as her evidence would have corroborated the testimonies of other prosecution witnesses.
“The defendant is not found guilty of the two-count charge, and he is hereby discharged and acquitted.”
The judge said there was a need for survivors to be encouraged to come forward and testify before the court.
“They must be encouraged, by being physically present, to give accounts of their encounters in the hands of their assailants, so that the court can listen attentively.
“All the stakeholders in the administration of justice, particularly the police, counsel at the Ministry of Justice, and private practices should speak to their clients to present themselves in court, otherwise, a case of this nature will be a colossal waste of time,” she said.
Lagos State Government had alleged that Mr. Iporu abducted the alleged survivor from his parents for three days and sexually defiled her.
The alleged offenses contravene Sections 137 and 269 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
