A Kebbi State High Court sitting in Birnin Kebbi has sentenced one Ibrahim Isah to five years’ imprisonment for attempting to rape a young girl, Zainab Muhammad.
Isah, a resident of the Rikoto area of Zuru Local Government Area but employed in Birnin Kebbi, was found guilty by Justice Maryam Abubakar Kaoje of attempted rape, an offence punishable under Section 58 of the Kebbi State Penal Code Law, 2021.
The convict was initially arraigned on two counts of rape and gross indecency, contrary to Sections 259 and 261 of the state’s Penal Code Law.
During the trial, the prosecution team, led by Lawal Hudu Garba alongside the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in the Ministry of Justice, called five witnesses and tendered three exhibits, including the defendant’s statements in English and Hausa, as well as the medical report of the victim.
The defence counsel, Barrister S.M. DanYaro, called only the defendant to testify in his defence.
In her judgment, Justice Kaoje held that although the evidence before the court did not establish the offences of rape or gross indecency, it sufficiently proved an attempt to commit the offence.
“The facts disclosed in the confessional statement did not prove the offence of rape and act of gross indecency, but rather, it proved the offence of an attempt to commit an offence to wit; rape, contrary to Section 58 of the Kebbi State Penal Code Law, 2021,” the judge said.
Consequently, Ibrahim Isah was sentenced to five years in prison and fined N50,000.
The court ordered that he would serve an additional one year imprisonment in default of payment of the fine.