By Austin Ogwuda
…he is also to pay N50m as compensation to the victim
AN Orerokpe High Court in Delta State, Nigeria, presided over by Justice Joe Egwu has sent a 55-year-old man, Collins Ika, to 60 years imprisonment without an option of fine.
The sentence was handed down on Monday, February 23, 2026.
The Judge in delivering judgment emphasised that the punishment should serve as a deterrent to others.
Prosecution led by Miss Phoebian Onomakpome, an Assistant Director in the Delta State Ministry of Justice told the court that the convict committed the offence in Ugolo community, Okpe local government area of Delta State, between 2021 and 2022.
Prosecution narrated how the victim, an 11-year old girl (names withheld) whom the mother handed over to the convict to look after as a neighbour turned her to sex machine.
Led in evidence, the victim testified that Ika repeatedly had unlawful carnal knowledge of her and threatened to kill her if she dared reported the abuse to anybody.
Her mother also testified that she had left the girl and her other siblings in the care of the convict who was their neighbour.
The mother told the court that the child later confided in her after developing persistent waist pains, disclosing what transpired.
Following the report to the police, Ika fled but was later arrested through a sting operation, aided by a human rights activist.
He was invited under the pretext of discussing the matter, and when he showed up with ₦111,000 which he intended to offer to the complainant to hush the case, he was promptly arrested and charged to court.
The defendant, now convicted, who was represented by Dr. Brown Umukoro, denied the allegation and called his wife as his only witness.
Delivering judgment, Justice Egwu held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and found the defendant guilty.
He therefore sentenced him to 60 years imprisonment, emphasizing that the punishment should serve as a deterrent to others in future.
