A Magistrate’s Court in Umuahia, Abia State has jailed a HIV patient, Chimela Victor Ekeke, for raping a four-year-old girl in Umahia recently.
The 37-year-old convict, who confessed to that he was HIV-positive after he was caught by the minor’s relatives, was jailed for life.
He, however, claimed that his viral problem had been “flushed” by his doctor.
Ekeke confessed to having carnal knowledge of the minor but pleaded for leniency, claiming that he only used his fingers to touch the private part of the kid while keeping her on his lap.
He also blamed the devil for misleading him.
The presiding Magistrate, N. Lekwa, pronounced the accused guilty stressing that the court had found him guilty of infant defilement in the last sitting.
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Before being jailed, the defendant was however discharged on count 1, which is bordered on conspiracy.
However, the court ruled that a second defendant in the matter had no common intention or anything linking him to the crime, thereby setting him free.
The prosecuting counsel, Okezuonu Obioma applauded the decision of the Court, saying that it was in tandem with the position of the law in defilement of a minor.
Meanwhile, the Police in Kaduna State have recovered two AK-47 rifles each loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition.
The arms were recovered from criminals fleeing from the police.
The spokesperson of the Kaduna Police Command, DSP Muhammad Jalige, explained that “on July 18, 2023, about 2205hrs, the operatives of the Kaduna Police Command while on routine patrol along Hukunyi-Danja Road, a border between Kaduna and Katsina states sighted two persons riding a motorcycle in a very suspicious manner.
“The situation prompted the patrol team to give them a hot pursuit and on sensing danger, they immediately ran into the nearby forest to avoid being apprehended.”
He further explained that as a result, the luggage of the hoodlums fell off the bike, stressing that when the said luggage was searched, two AK-47 rifles loaded with 30 rounds of live ammunition each were recovered.