A Federal High Court in Kano has sentenced Lawan Salisu, a 31-year-old resident of Tishama Yan Awakai Farin Bene Transformer, Nassarawa Local Government, Kano State, to three years in prison for sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy.
Salisu was convicted on a one-count charge of procurement and sexual exploitation after pleading guilty. Delivering the judgment, Justice Simon Amobeda noted that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
“The offence is punishable by not less than seven years imprisonment and a fine of N1 million,” Amobeda stated. “I have tempered justice with mercy as a first-time offender, according to the Administration of Criminal Justice Act. I hereby sentence the convict to three years imprisonment without an option of fine. This will serve as a deterrent to others as cases like this are becoming prevalent.”
He also urged Salisu to apologize to the victim and his family.
Earlier, prosecution counsel Hassan Nuruddeen from the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Kano Command, told the court that Salisu had committed the offense on June 26, luring the minor into an uncompleted building at Tishama, where the abuse took place.
The prosecution presented four exhibits, including Salisu’s confessional statement and the victim’s testimony, to substantiate the case.
According to Nuruddeen, the offense contravened Section 16(1) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015, punishable under Section 26(1) of the same act.
Defense counsel Inuwa Umar-Ibrahim pleaded for leniency, noting that Salisu was a first-time offender.
