A 25-year-old man, Mr Aniedi Mfon, has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for raping an 8-year-old in Calabar, Cross River State.
CONVERSEER learned that Mfon was convicted by the Cross River State High Court sitting in Calabar on Tuesday morning, 7th May 2024.
Delivering the judgment, the Judge, Hon. Justice Blessing Egwu who lamented about the high prevalence of the crime of rape in the state, awarded a fine of one million naira (N1,000,000) to the survivor.
Justice Egwu then convicted and sentenced Aniedi Mfon to life imprisonment for the raping of an 8-year-old child (name withheld).
CONVERSEER further learned that Mfon’s conviction was secured by the Cross River State Commissioner of Police, CP Gyogon Grimah; the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Hon. Ededem Ani; Principal Counsel of Basic Rights Counsel Initiative (BRCI), Barr. James Ibor; and the Prosecutor, Patience Emmanuel Akpama.
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Reacting to the story, Barr. James Ibor, Principal Counsel of BRCI, commended the father of the survivor for resisting intimidation and bribes.
“I wish to thank the Commissioner of Police and his team, Attorney General Ededem Ani and his team, the staff of the Basic Rights Counsel Initiative and the survivor and her father who resisted intimidation and bribes to back out.
“Special thanks to our amiable Prosecutor Patience Akpama. You are a rising star,” Ibor maintained.
CONVERSEER reports that this is the fourth time this year that the state is securing the conviction of rapists.
The first was the conviction of a 25-year-old man for raping his 15-year-old cousin while the second was the conviction of a 52-year-old man for raping an 11-year-old girl – all in February 2024.
The third case was the conviction of a middle age man for raping a minor in March 2024.