A 45 year-old civil servant, UduakAbasi Oku Edet has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for r@ping his 14 year-old biological daughter (name withheld by me).
Uduak, a native of Ikot E-Ekpene village in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area, was convicted today by Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo.
The convict was standing trial on a two count charge of r@pe punishable under section 367 and assault occasioning harm, under section 364 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Volume Two, Laws of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria, 2000.
The particulars of the facts of the case is that Uduak Oku Edet had between July, 2018 and October 2019 repeatedly assaulted and r@ped his own daughter in his house at number 3, Mark Jerome Close, Ekpri Nsukara, Uyo on five occasions.
In one of the incidents, the r@ndy father is said to have had s3x with his own daughter through the @nus which led to her experiencing difficulty in defecation and another is when the minor returned from school for holidays and her father inserted his finger into her v@gina.
The victim, a JSS 2 student, told the Court that after the incident, she started experiencing pains in her v@gina with a swollen b*e*s*s, which resulted in infection with brown and black discharge coming out from her v@gina.
As if that was not enough, the convict is said to have flogged and stabbed his daughter on the head with a knife for taking food in the kitchen to eat without the permission of her stepmother.
“I was staying with my mother in Ghana before my father came and picked me to Nigeria to stay with him. Since then, he refused to take care of my mother. Sometime July, 2018, my father called me in the night to come and see him in his bedroom because my stepmother was not around. Reaching there, he asked me to lie down which I refused. He now forced me and have s3xual int@rcourse and blood came out of my v@gina. He removed his p3nis and used saliva and rubbed on his p3nis and forced it again inside me. I started crying and he gave me paracetamol to take and I took it. And since then, he has been having s3x with me for five good times.” The minor said.
“Each time I went for vacation. Even the last time I went for midterm break, he came and f!ngered me, so I decided to tell him to stop and he started hating me. That was on 30th October, 2019. He then abandoned me in the school (name withheld) and even when the school management called him that I was very sick, he refused to come and see me. If not Teacher Itoro that helped me. My stepmother has been maltreating me. Even to give me food is a problem. I want to go back to my mother in Ghana. My father used to s3x me through my @nus and since then, am feeling pains in my @nus.” She said.
Respite came the way of the poor girl when Akwa Ibom State Chapter of Federacio International de Abogadas an organisation of women lawyers, otherwise known as FIDA, reported the matter to the Police.
Trial commenced 21st December, 2021 and ended 2nd August, 2022.
In his judgment, the trial judge, Justice Bassey Nkanang found Uduak Oku Edet guilty of r@pe and accordingly convicted him.
“The defendant is hereby sentenced to 14 years imprisonment and same shall be computed from and including the 10th of October, 2019 when the defendant was arrested till and including 3rd March, 2022 when the defendant was admitted to bail by this Court. Upon reckoning with the afore stated period, the computation of the sentence shall commence today till the entire term is completed. This is the judgement of this Court in this case.” Justice Nkanang declared.
©Harrison Essien
