An Upper Area Court sitting in Gwagwalada, Federal Capital Territory, on Wednesday sentenced a pensioner, Alhaji Habibu, to 18 months in prison for defiling a nine-year-old girl.
The judge, Alhaji Alhassan Kusherki, sentenced the convict after he pleaded guilty to the offence.
The judge, however, gave the 50-year-old pensioner an option of N50, 000 fine.
“The court convicts you, Habibu, of the offence,” the judge held.
He noted that the offence contravened Section 275 of the Penal Code, and punishable under the same section.
“This punishment will serve as a deterrent to others, and for the convict to be a good citizen,’’ he said.
The prosecutor, Insp Martha Paul, had earlier told the court that Habibu of New Kutunku in Gwagwalada, FCT, had sexual intercourse with the minor.
She said that the case was reported at the Gwagwalada Police Station on September 10, by the minor’s father.
