A magistrate court in Minna, Niger State, has sentenced a septuagenarian, Mohammed Sani Umar, to 30 years in prison for raping an an eight-year-old girl in Chanchaga area of the state.
SaharaReporters had reported how Umar raped his victim twice before giving her N80 not to tell anybody about the incident.
Umar, who admitted before the magistrate court on Wednesday, said he raped the little girl twice because he loved her.
Delivering judgment on the case, Senior Magistrate Safuratu Abdulkareem of Magistrate Court III, Minna, found Umar guilty of the offence.
The magistrate sentenced him to 30 years in prison, adding that the jail term was in line with Section 18, Subsection 2 of the Child Right Act (2010) of Niger State.
Niger State rights activist, Abubakar Saidu Arah, hailed the court for the prompt judgment delivery on the case.
He urged the government to strengthen the National Human Right Commission and Niger State Child’s Right Agency, stating that the state government should take proactive steps in ensuring the implementation of the child’s right act in the state.
He said, “The federal and Niger State governments should empower the National Human Right Commission and Niger State Child’s Right Agency to do better than keeping statistics and records (as shown in this case) and be proactive in handling offences of such magnitude as some victims lack the strength to follow up such cases to the desired conclusion without their support.”
