The Children, Sexual and Gender-based Violence Court in Awka, Anambra State, has found Kingsley Okeke (22) and Chukwuemeka Nweke (27) guilty of child theft and illegal dealing in children.
According to The PUNCH,the suspects were arraigned in 2023 on a four-count charge, including child stealing, illegal dealing in children, and infliction of physical injuries.
Chief Magistrate Genevieve Osakwe delivered the judgment, stating that the defendants were found guilty on all counts.
The court noted that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, despite the defendants’ “blatant lies on oath.”
The defendants’ counsel appealed for leniency, citing their good character and first-time offenses.
However, the court sentenced them to concurrent prison terms ranging from one to six years, without options for fines.
The Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, praised the court’s judgment and warned potential offenders to desist or face consequences. She also vowed to apprehend the third suspect, currently at large.
Specifically, the Court noted, “Based on the oral testimonies of the defendants, their written depositions, made at the earliest opportunity, the submissions of the plaintiff’s witnesses, as well as, other materials placed before the Court, in respect of the case; there were overwhelming pieces of evidence against the defendants, and the prosecutor had proved his case beyond reasonable doubts.”
During sentencing proceedings, the defence counsel briefly addressed the Court on the good characters of the defendants, each, and passionately prayed the Court to tamper justice with mercy, on the grounds that both defendants were first-offenders, and had sincerely expressed regrets for their wrongdoings.
However, the Chief Magistrate, Osakwe, acknowledged that in Law, justice is not one-way traffic, and stated that in passing sentences on the defendants, the Court would not be unmindful of the existing practice directions, prescribed in the Sentencing Guidelines of Anambra State of Nigeria.
Accordingly, the two defendants, Okeke and Nweke, were both slammed with prison terms as follows: one-year imprisonment in count one; six years imprisonment in count two; six years imprisonment in count three; and a term of two years imprisonment in court four.
“All the sentences would run concurrently, without any option of fine,” the court declared.
Reacting to the development, the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the Court’s judgment and warned intending offenders to leave the state, as the present administration would not hesitate to put them where they belong.
Obinabo also appreciated the efforts of the Court in seeing that children are protected in the state, and promised to do everything within her powers to bring the third suspect, now at large, to book.
