A Bayelsa State High Court sitting in Yenagoa, presided by Justice D.E. Adokeme, has sentenced a 41-year-old man, Baridapsi Needam, to 14 years imprisonment for raping and impregnating his daughter.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the victim gave birth to a baby girl in pendency of the trial.
The Bayelsa State’s Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Mr Briyal Dambo, in the suit number YHC/14C/2022, charged the accused with the offence of rape contrary to Section 1(1) of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law of Bayelsa State, 2021.
Pere Amanda Egbuson, the Prosecuting Counsel, told the court that Needam started abusing his daughter when she was seven years old.
Egbuson said the father got the girl pregnant in 2020 and delivered a baby same year, tendering a DNA report of the baby as evidence.
The Judge, while delivering judgement, stated that the prosecution presented credible evidence, including the DNA result which was 99.99 per cent positive that the convict is the father of his grandchild.
The court, therefore, ruled that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced Needam to 14 years imprisonment.
Speaking after the judgement, Egbuson, the prosecuting counsel, noted that the judgement would serve as deterrent to others who engage in such unimaginable acts.
She thanked the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Biriyai Dambo, for facilitating the DNA analysis to aid the prosecution.
Reacting to the development, a renowned advocate against violence against women and founder of Do Foundation, Dr Dise Ogbise-Goddy Harry, commended the court for ensuring justice.
“The State Government through the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Women Affairs, Children Affairs and Social Development and the Bayelsa State Gender Response Initiative Team have done well by keeping the victim and the baby safe.
“This should sound as a warning to all paedophiles to steer clear of our children,” she said.
It would be recalled that Bayelsa State Gender Advocacy group, Gender Response Initiative Team, had handed Needman to the Police, after a concerned neighbour discovered that he was responsible for the girl’s pregnancy in 2022.
