A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting in Lugbe, Abuja, on Tuesday sentenced a 35-year-old man to four years in prison for committing incest.
Friday Elijah, an indigene of Cross River State, was found guilty on two counts of incest and inflicting physical injury on his 13-year old daughter.
The convict was arrested in July 2015 by operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) after he had sex with his teenage daughter.
After the girl exposed him to his relatives, Mr. Elijah attacked her with a bottle, injuring the girl in the head.
The offences which are punishable under sections 2 (1) and 25 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 were committed in Ushafa, Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory.
On arraignment, Mr. Elijah pleaded not guilty to the two count charges. The case, therefore, went through full trial.
On November 8, the judge, Angela Otaluka, found the accused guilty of the counts in Charge No. CR/103/16 and deferred the sentence to December 12.
On resumption of proceedings on Tuesday, the judge sentenced him to four years imprisonment for incest and inflicting physical injury on his daughter.
After listening to the testimonies of the defendant’s wife and his cousin as to his character, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 310 and 311 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and the plea for leniency from the defence counsel, Mr. Elijah was sentenced to two years imprisonment without an option of fine for Count One (Inflicting Physical Injury on a Person) and four years imprisonment without an option of fine for Count Two (Incest).
Both sentences are to run concurrently.
Reacting to the judgment, the Director General, Dame Julie Okah-Donli said violence against persons was old fashioned and that those who still get involved in such an act must be dealt with in accordance with the law.
