A Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja has sentenced a trader, Abdullahi Sale, to life imprisonment for raping and kidnapping his 13‑year‑old neighbour.
Justice Rahman Oshodi handed down the judgment after finding Sale guilty on two counts—defilement and abduction—filed by the Lagos State Government. The offences contravened Sections 137 and 268 of the Lagos State Criminal Law, 2015.
The court heard that the convict, who lived in a room apartment on Agunbiade Street, Kirikiri Town, Apapa, lured the JSS1 student into his room and detained her for 11 days. During that period, he allegedly defiled the girl repeatedly.
Prosecution witnesses, including the girl’s mother, testified that the teenager disappeared after the family returned from church. Sale had reportedly inquired about her whereabouts under the guise of concern, even as he kept her confined in his room within the same compound.
A naval officer eventually found the girl sitting alone on the street and took her to the police station. She subsequently led law enforcement officers to Sale’s room, where she revealed the extent of her confinement.
During the trial, the victim testified that she had never entered Sale’s room before the incident, describing her ordeal of being locked in a dark space for several days. A medical report tendered by a nurse and midwife showed evidence consistent with forced sexual assault.
Justice Oshodi dismissed Sale’s testimony as “wholly incredible” and found that the prosecution had proven the case beyond reasonable doubt. In addition to the life term for defilement, the judge sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment for abduction, to run concurrently with the life sentence.
The judge also ordered that Sale’s name be entered into the Sex Offenders Register, reinforcing the state’s stance on rigorous punishment for crimes against children.
