7.8.2026
A 27-old-old final year Mass Communication final year student Wisdom Edem has sentenced to 35 years imprisomenent after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl.
He was handed the sentence in absentia by the Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Court sitting in Awka, Anambra State.
Delivering judgment in Charge No. A/3C/2024, Justice Peace Otti sentenced Edem to 25 years in prison for defilement, five years for sexual abuse and exploitation, and another five years for inflicting physical injury on the child. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The Anambra State Government had arraigned Edem on a three-count charge under the Child’s Rights Law of Anambra State, 2004, and the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law of Anambra State, 2017. The prosecution, led by Principal State Counsel, Mrs Chinelo Akorah, called six witnesses and presented exhibits, including the defendant’s statement and a medical report.
The court heard that the defendant invited the child to his residence on the pretext of featuring her in a comedy skit, before allegedly sending her younger sister on an errand and locking the child in a room.
In her judgment, Justice Otti rejected the defendant’s claim that the child had consented to the act, stressing that Nigerian law does not recognise a child’s consent to sexual intercourse. The judge held that the prosecution had established its case through the evidence presented in court, including the victim’s testimony, medical evidence and the defendant’s statement.
The court issued a bench warrant for his arrest and ordered that he be declared wanted. It also directed that his photographs be circulated to the police and published to facilitate his arrest.
The court further ordered that Edem’s university should withhold his certificate until he completes his sentence, that he pay N200,000 in compensation to the victim, and that his name be entered in the Anambra State Sex Offenders’ Register. With Channels TV reports