Man Bags 25 Years Jail Term For Raping Minor In Cross River

A trial court in Cross River state has sentenced one Matthew Uyangha to 25 years imprisonment for kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old orphan.

The convict was said to have repeatedly raped the victim, whose identity is not divulged, for two months before nemesis caught up with him and he was arrested.

The rapist had drugged and abducted the teenage girl from Akpabuyo Local Government Area of the state and took her somewhere in Esuk Utan in Calabar Municipality where he sexually violated her.

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He was arrested by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC).

During the hearing of the case on Thursday, Justice Blessing Egwu of Calabar Division of the High Court of Cross River found Uyangha of a two-count charge bordering on abduction and rape.

Delivering her judgement, Justice Egwu held that the evidence against Uyangha was irrefutable and damning.

Reacting to the judgement, the Principal Counsel of Basic Rights Counsel Initiative (BRCI), Mr. James Ibor, commended the State and Judiciary for their determination to keep children safe.

Ibor said, “The judgment showed that there is no place for rapists in Cross River as the judgment is a strong statement that the State is willing to uphold the true spirit of the Child Rights Law, among others.”