The Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Court sitting at the High Court of Awka, Anambra State, has convicted and sentenced Wisdom Edem, a 27-year-old final-year Mass Communication student, to a combined term of 25 years, five years, and five years imprisonment for rape, sexual abuse, and inflicting physical injury on a 10-year-old girl.
CDA News Nigeria gathered that the judgment, delivered on Wednesday by Justice Peace Otti under Charge No. A/3C/2024, brought to a close a case that had drawn close attention from child rights advocates across the state.
Edem was arraigned on a three-count charge: rape, contrary to Section 34(2) of the Child’s Rights Law of Anambra State, 2004; sexual abuse and exploitation, contrary to Section 35(2) of the same law; and inflicting physical injury, contrary to Section 4(1) of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law, Anambra State, 2017.
Leading the prosecution, the Principal State Counsel of the Anambra State Ministry of Justice, Chinelo Akorah, called six witnesses and tendered documentary evidence, including a confessional statement from the defendant and a medical report confirming the child’s injuries.
Court filings showed that the victim testified in detail on how the defendant deceived her into visiting his house under the guise of shooting a “comedy skit,” a project she said she had participated in with him and others before. She arrived with her younger sister, who Edem then sent home on an errand, before directing the victim into a room where he claimed “others were waiting.” Once inside, the court heard, he locked the door and assaulted her, leaving her bleeding. A doctor who examined her the same day confirmed the injuries in court testimony.
In his defence, Edem denied wrongdoing, alleging that the child had initiated the encounter and had told him she was 14 years old with a boyfriend. CDA News Nigeria gathered that Justice Otti firmly rejected this account, ruling that the presence of blood affirmed the child had been a virgin and stressing that, under the law, a minor cannot legally consent to sexual activity.
“Worse still, he was not even paying the child for the so-called comedy skit. To add insult to injury, he raped her,” the judge stated, describing the offence as premeditated and deliberately planned.
The court held that the victim’s testimony was fully corroborated by the defendant’s own confessional statement, which admitted she had come to his house with her sister. Additional testimony from a police officer and a vigilante member involved in the arrest further strengthened the prosecution’s case.
Although Edem had been present in court throughout trial while on bail, he failed to appear for the judgment. Justice Otti proceeded to deliver the verdict in his absence, in line with the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Anambra State, and immediately issued a bench warrant for his arrest, ordering that he be declared wanted with his photograph circulated to police and online.
The court further directed that Edem’s university withhold his certificate until he completes his prison term and ordered him to pay N200,000 as compensation to the victim for the physical injury she sustained.
Officials commended the Principal State Counsel and the Public Relations Officer of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) for their roles in securing the conviction.
CDA News Nigeria reports that the judgment reaffirms Anambra State’s zero-tolerance stance on sexual and gender-based violence, with the state Ministry of Justice reiterating its commitment to ensuring perpetrators face the full weight of the law.
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