The Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, on Wednesday, convicted and sentenced a painter, Azeez Salau, to life imprisonment for defiling his neighbour’s nine-year-old daughter.

Justice Abiola Soladoye handed down the sentence after finding Salau guilty of the offence of defilement charge preferred against him by the Lagos State Government.

Delivering her judgment, Justice Soladoye held that the convict was a sexual pervert who entered the room of his neighbour while she had gone to work at night and sexually assaulted the girl.

The court held that the survivor recognised the convict as ‘Daddy Kalid’ who had sex with her three times in her mother’s room while her mother was at work.

Justice Soladoye said the testimony of the survivor was clear, coherent and consistent even when she was cross-examined, as her evidence was corroborated by the medical report.

She said that the prosecution had sufficiently proved the three ingredients of defilement against the convict.

The judge held that the survivor, in this case, gave vivid, thorough evidence which was corroborated by the medical report.

“The survivor who was the first prosecution testified before this court that she lived with her mother and identified the Salau in the dock as their neighbour, known as Daddy Kalid.

“She said that the convict would come to her room and have sexual intercourse with her and that no one was usually home when it happened. She said ‘I am always on the bed and he is also on the bed with me.

“He touches my body with his hands and uses his penis to have sex with me through my vagina.”

The court also held the evidence of Dr. Alagbe Oyedeji of Mirabel Medical Centre who said that the medical report showed multiple healed lacerations as there was blunt forceful penetration of the vagina.

Justice Soladoye also held that the testimony of the survivor’s mother who testified that she was a night worker and that the survivor and her brother were made to sleep alone in the house.

“The survivor’s mother told the court that one of her neighbours, Mummy Darasimi, informed her of the incident.”

But Salau in his defence said he had an issue with the mother of the girl but his story did not add up as he tried to distance himself from the commission of the crime.

However, Justice Soladoye convicted him of the charge and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

The judge said his name should be registered in the Lagos State Sexual Offences Register.

She said: “The convict is a neighbour to the victim and in this case, he ought not to have done what he did to the child.

“This should serve as a strong warning to the perpetrators of this act that the day of reckoning is near.

“Parents are once again advised that the need for mentorship and monitoring of their children is not negotiable. Salau is hereby found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.”

During the trial, the state prosecution counsel, Mr Olusola Soneye, who led Ms Abimbola Abolade, had called three witnesses while the convict testified as a sole witness.

The prosecutor told the court that the convict committed the offence sometime in January 2020 at Oshiboyede Street, Selewu, Igbogbo, Ikorodu Lagos.

According to the prosecution, the offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.