By Rita Enemuru, Reporting
A 45-year-old man, UduakAbasi Oku Edet has been sentenced to 14 years jail term for raping his 14-year-old biological daughter (name withheld) by a High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Uduak, a native of Ikot E-Ekpene village in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area, was convicted on Friday on a two-count charge of rape and assault punishable under sections 367 and 364 of the Criminal Code.
According to the specifics of the case, Uduak Oku Edet frequently beat and raped his daughter in his home at number 3 Mark Jerome Close in Ekpri Nsukara, Uyo, between July 2018 and October 2019.
In one of the incidents, the convict is said to have had sex with his daughter through the anus which led to her experiencing difficulty in defecation.
The victim, a JSS 2 girl testified before the court that she began having vaginal aches and swollen breasts following the incident, which led to an infection with brown and black discharge flowing from her vagina.
It was also gathered that the father had flogged and stabbed the victim on the head with a knife for taking food to eat without the permission of her stepmother.
“I was staying with my mother in Ghana before my father came and picked me to Nigeria to stay with him. Since then, he refused to take care of my mother.
“Sometime in July, 2018, my father called me in the night to come and see him in his bedroom because my stepmother was not around. Reaching there, he asked me to lie down which I refused.
“He now forced me and have sexual intercourse and blood came out of my vagina. He removed his penis and used saliva and rubbed on his penis and forced it again inside me. I started crying and he gave me paracetamol to take and I took it. And since then, he has been having sex with me for five good times,” the minor said.
“Each time I went for vacation, even the last time I went for midterm break, he came and fingered me, so I decided to tell him to stop and he started beating me. That was on 30th October, 2019.
“He then abandoned me in the school (name withheld) and even when the school management called him that I was very sick, he refused to come and see me. If not Teacher Itoro that helped me. My stepmother has been maltreating me and giving food was a problem.
“I want to go back to my mother in Ghana. My father used to have sex with me through my anus and since then, am feeling pains in my anus,” she said.
The girl was rescued when Akwa Ibom State organisation of women lawyers known as Federacio International de Abogadas (FIDA) reported the matter to the police.
Trial commenced 21st December, 2021 and ended 2nd August, 2022.
In his judgment, the trial judge, Justice Bassey Nkanang found Uduak Oku Edet guilty of rape and accordingly convicted him.
“The defendant is hereby sentenced to 14 years imprisonment and same shall be computed from and including the 10th of October, 2019 when ththe e defendant was arrested till and including 3rd March, 2022 when the defendant was admitted to aforestated Court.
“Upon reckoning with the afore stated period, the computation of the sentence shall commence today till the judgment term is completed. This is the judgement of this Court in this case.” Justice Nkanang declared
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