Herbalist Sentenced To 14 Years Over Attempted Sexual Assault On Minor

Segun Shina, a herbalist, was sentenced to 14 years in prison by an Ikeja Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence Court on Tuesday for attempting to sexually assault a 10-year-old girl with epilepsy.

Justice Rahman Oshodi sentenced Shina after he pleaded guilty to an amended one-count charge of attempted sexual assault.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Shina had in a plea bargain agreement changed his plea of not guilty to guilty.

Oshodi, therefore, held that the evidence before the court and the voluntary plea proved that Shina committed the offense.

Oshodi, thereafter, convicted him as charged.

The judge held that he was satisfied that the convict duly understood the nature of the plea bargain agreement and that his counsel had explained it to him.

He said, “Segun Shina, you have pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl suffering from epilepsy.

“I must emphasize that the charge with which you were earlier charged carries life imprisonment.

“You exploited the child seeking help for epilepsy, and you also betrayed the trust placed in you as a traditional herbal healer.

“I have considered your plea for mercy, your lawyer’s allocutus, and the submission of the prosecutor, and I hereby sentence you to a 14-year jail term.”

Oshodi ordered that the sentence should commence on November 16, 2018, the day Shina was arrested.

The court also ordered the family of the convict to ensure his rehabilitation upon release.

“You shall have no direct or indirect contact with the family of the survivor, and your name shall be registered as a sex offender under the law,” the judge also held.

NAN recalls that Shina was initially arraigned on a charge of defilement on April 4, 2021, by the Lagos State Government.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge, and the State Counsel, Ms. Bukola Okeowo, called two witnesses: the survivor’s mother and an investigative police officer, through whom compelling evidence and exhibits were tendered as evidence.

The survivor’s mother told the court that the survivor suffered from epilepsy and she had taken her to Shina for healing.

The offense, according to the prosecution, violates Section 262 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.