The Children, Sexual and Gender-based Violence Court of Anambra State, sitting in Awka, the state capital, has convicted two suspects, identified as Kingsley Okeke, aged, 22 years and Chukwuemeka Nweke, aged, 27 years, for child theft and illegal dealing in children.
The suspects were arraigned before the court, sometime in 2023, on a four-count charge to wit: child stealing; illegal dealing in children; fraudulently enticing away and harbouring a one year and two month old baby boy; forcefully isolating the child from the lawful possession of his parents; and inflicting physical injuries on him which is punishable under the Criminal Code, Laws of Anambra State of Nigeria, 1991, the civil Rights Law of Anambra State, 2004, and the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition and Protection) Laws of Anambra State, 2017 respectively.
Delivering judgment on the case, the presiding Chief Magistrate, Genevieve Osakwe, stated that the defendants were found guilty of all the four-count charges brought against them and reproach the defendants for wasting the time of the Court, by blatantly telling lies on oath, throughout the course of the case.
Specifically, the Court noted, “Based on the oral testimonies of the defendants, their written depositions, made at the earliest opportunity, the submissions of the plaintiff’s witnesses, as well as, other materials placed before the Court, in respect of the case; there were overwhelming pieces of evidence against the defendants, and the prosecutor had proved his case beyond reasonable doubts.”
During sentencing proceedings, the defence counsel briefly addressed the Court on the good characters of the defendants, each, and passionately prayed the Court to tamper justice with mercy, on the grounds that both defendants were first-offenders, and had sincerely expressed regrets for their wrongdoings.
However, the Chief Magistrate, Osakwe, acknowledged that in Law, justice is not one-way traffic, and stated that in passing sentences on the defendants, the Court would not be unmindful of the existing practice directions, prescribed in the Sentencing Guidelines of Anambra State of Nigeria.
Accordingly, the two defendants, Okeke and Nweke, were both slammed with prison terms as follows: one-year imprisonment in count one; six years imprisonment in count two; six years imprisonment in count three; and a term of two years imprisonment in court four.
“All the sentences would run concurrently, without any option of fine,” the court declared.
Reacting to the development, the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the Court’s judgment and warned intending offenders to leave the state, as the present administration would not hesitate to put them where they belong.
The commissioner also appreciated the efforts of the Court in seeing that children are protected in the state, and promised to do everything within her powers to bring the third suspect who is now at large, to book.
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