The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has secured the conviction and life imprisonment of two security guards in Abuja, James Sule, 30, and Adamu Yau, 25, for repeatedly r@ping a young girl over a six-year period.
Justice S.M. Mayana of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, sentenced both men to life imprisonment without the option of fine.
According to NAPTIP, the victim, whose identity was withheld, was six years old when the ab¥se started in 2016 but was already 12 years old in 2022 at the time when the case was reported. She explained that her grandmother had asked Sule, who worked as the family’s security guard at their residence in Penthouse Estate, Lugbe, Abuja, to repair a faulty toilet.
The victim said she was crying over a spoiled cello tape when Sule called her into the toilet, promising to stop her grandmother from punishing her. He allegedly locked the door, removed her pants, r@ped her while covering her mouth, and later thr£atened her with a kn+fe to stop her from speaking out.
The agency stated that Sule later involved two other estate guards, Adamu Yau and one Muhammed, who is currently on the run.
“The victim endured this traumatic ab¥se in silence for about six years. Over time, the victim’s parents noticed troubling changes in her behaviour. She became visibly agitated whenever Sule entered the house and refused to let him escort her to school or pick her up from the school bus.’’
Her parents reportedly took her to a prayer house where she disclosed to a pastor that Sule, Yau, and Muhammed had been s+xually ab¥sing her whenever she returned from school before her parents got home.
NAPTIP said the suspects were arrested, charged to court in February 2023, and later arraigned in October 2023. During trial, five witnesses testified while seven exhibits, including a medical report confirming the victim’s hymen was breached, were presented in court.
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