Attempted Defilement: Court Orders Man To Sweep Premises 48 Times In One Year

A Port Harcourt Chief Magistrate Court in Rivers State presided over by Chief Magistrate Felicitas Amanze, has ordered a 24-year old man, Emeka Iyalla, to sweep the premises of the state Judiciary complex housing both the magistrate and high courts every Monday in a week for one year as a punishment for his conviction on an attempted defilement case brought against him by the police.
In her judgement delivered, last Wednesday, in Port Harcourt, Amanze found the accused guilty as charged by the prosecution, and gave him a non-custodian sentence to clean the premises of both High Court and Magistrate Court every Monday for a period of one year.
The convict, Emeka Iyalla, was arraigned at the Chief Magistrate Court for an attempted defilement of eight-year old girl, at Ogbogoro community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area on August 8, 2018, and was found culpable of the crime.
The presiding chief magistrate also ordered him to pay a restitution of the sum of N150,000 to the victim’s family.
She averred that the court was lenient because the medical examination report conducted on the victim showed that the little girl vagina was intact while only her vulva had some bruises.
In a related development, Chief Magistrate Felicitas Amanze, also sentenced a 37-year old woman, Onyinye Henry, to another non-custodian sentence for the abduction of her fellow tenant’s 13-year old housemaid by taking her away from their residence at Rumuodomaya, and abandoned her at Woji town in Port Harcourt.
Amanze, therefore, found the accused guilty as charged for exhibiting wickedness to her co-tenant because they were not in good terms, without considering the negative impact of her action on the victim.
The court ordered the accused to pay the sum of N500,000 to the plaintiff, and ordered the accused to remain in custody until the money is paid.
Speaking on the judgements in an interview, Legal Officer with FIDA, Rivers State, Esther Achor-Korienta, said the two sentences would serve as deterrent to anyone attempting to defile children.

By: Amadi Akujobi