The judiciary Tuesday sent a strong message to rapists
and paedophiles in the country when a Nasarawa State High Court ordered the
Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar and Mr. Anthony Onoja, a police
corporal and convicted rapist, to pay a two-year-old rape victim Chinwendu Obi
Onwudiwe, the sum of N10 million for exemplary damages.
Expectedly, there was an immediate outcry from many who
considered the judgment to be too light for the police corporal and insisted
that he deserved to spend a long time in jail for sexually defiling a baby.
For the 70 minutes that the judgment lasted at the
Nassarawa State High Court 5, Mararaba, the trial judge, Justice A. Asmau, said
she was convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the respondents in the case (the
IG and Corporal Onoja) infringed on baby Chinwendu's fundamental rights.
Mrs. Ngozi Obi Onwudiwe, through her lawyer, Mr. Esther
Uzoma, who is also the National Coordinator, Proactive Gender Initiative, an
Abuja-based NGO, had in a motion on notice, dated November 6, 2013, prayed the
court for four declarations and three orders.
Uzoma prayed the court for a declaration that unlawful
carnal knowledge, indecent assault and defilement of the tender and vulnerable
two-year-old Chinewendu by corporal Onoja was inhuman, degrading, unlawful and
an abuse of her right to life, as well as respect and dignity of human persons
as enshrined in Section 33 and 34 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria 1999 and Article 4 and 5 of African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights
(Ratification and enforcement Act) CAP 10 LFN 1990.
•A declaration that the action of Anthony Onoja
amounted to torture, physical and psychological abuse and violation of
Chinwendu Obi Onwudiwe's right to survival and development as provided for in
Section 3,4, 11 and 13 of the Childs Right's Act.
•A declaration that unlawful carnal knowledge, indecent
assault and defilement of the tender and vulnerable two-year-old Chinwendu Obi
Onwudiwe by Corporal Anthony Onoja was an outright violation of Section 31 of
the Childs Right Act.
•A declaration that the act of the second respondent
was unconstitutional, degrading and inhuman treatment.
She therefore urged the court to grant an order
mandating a comprehensive health examination and treatment of little Chinwendu
at the expense of the respondents.
She also asked
for an order for the payment by the respondents of the sum of N1.5 million,
being special damages for the expenses so far incurred by the parents of the
little girl on her health and since the occurrence of the unfortunate incident.
Mrs. Onwudiwe also sought an order for payment by the
respondents of the sum of N10 million, being exemplary damages for infringement
of her daughter’s fundamental rights.
Little Chinwendu's mother, in an affidavit in support
of the motion on notice, told the court that on June 15, 2013, at Mararaba by
Kabiyo Osino Pure Water in Nasarawa State, Onoja of the Nigeria Police Force,
indecently assaulted, defiled and had unlawful carnal knowledge of her little
baby daughter, adding that the pains were excruciating and horrible.
She stated further that she traced her daughter to
Onoja’s room where she met the little girl, her daughter, wailing from the pain
and anguish, and blood gushing out of her private parts, adding that, “Corporal
Anthony Onoja's wife rationalised the blood gushing out of little Chinwendu's
private part as her monthly period (menstruation)”.
She said the incident was reported at the Mararaba
police station while little Chinwendu was taken to the Medical Centre,
Mararaba.
In her judgment, Justice Asmau held that the act of
rape of the baby by Onoja was unconstitutional and a breach of her fundamental
right to life, respect and dignity of human persons.
The judge condemned in strong terms the action of the
2nd respondent, stressing that what he committed on Chinwendu was an act
animals would not commit on their young ones.
She said general damages should be a fair and balanced
assessment of injuries suffered, stressing that the prayers of the applicants
for N10 million damages were justified. She therefore granted it.
Justice Asmau
further ordered that the little girl should be taken immediately for
comprehensive medical treatment at the expense of the respondent.
She, however, declined to grant the N1.5 million being
special damages for the expense so far spent by the parents as a result of the
rape of the child.
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