21st March, 2024
A Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, has sentenced a convicted rapist, Dennis Okubiat, to 20 years imprisonment.
The court found out that Okubiat continuously raped a 12-year-old girl for three months, which led to her having urinary incontinence.
Presiding judge, Justice Ismail Ijelu maintained that the victim visited Okubiat at home because the pastor of her church said members should visit others who had not been church meetings for a while.
Being a respected elder in the church, the victim helped the convict clean his house and wash his plates, the judge held.
The judge said he believed the victim’s testimony. The victim had in her testimony, said: “So, he gave me garri and groundnut to drink, and I slept off. When I woke up, I saw a white substance in my private part, and I woke Okubiat up and asked him what happened to me; he said if I told anybody, he would kill me.
“He did it several times for three months, and on September 6, 2021, he came to my house and said we should do it. I said ‘I don’t know what you have been doing to me’. So, he started shouting and calling me to come and do it. That was how our neighbours heard and caught him.
“After he raped me, whenever I sit down, my private part is always itching me, and it makes me look like a mad girl in the street. When I wake up in the morning, I’m always wet, but during the day, I can control myself.
“This never happened to me before Okubiat raped me; I always woke up by myself at night to urinate. But after the rape, I’m not able to control myself, especially at night”.
In her cross examination by the defence counsel, M. O. Kareem, the minor said that the convict had threatened to kill her if she told anyone about what he did.
While giving his judgement, Justice Ijelu said the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. He there after pronounced: “The act of Okubiat was premeditated, the victim was vulnerable, and he took advantage of her.
“The court finds that the act of the convict harmed the victim as it has caused her extreme psychological impact and social impact,” the judge said.
“Okubiat is hereby sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment, to run from the day he was arrested and remanded,”