By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

A Magistrate Court in Umuahia North Magisterial District has sentenced Pastor Uche Arua Kalu, 40 years old, to 10 years imprisonment without an option of fine for defiling a four-year-old girl in Amaogudu Abiriba, in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State.

The judgment was delivered on Friday, March 7, 2025, by His Worship Onuoha U.C. after the defendant pleaded guilty to the crime.

During the hearing, the Investigating Police Officer, ASP Iweajunwa, who was called upon to present the facts of the case, was able to convincingly establish a case against the defendant after the defendant, Pastor Uche Arua Kalu had denied knowledge of his offence, thereby contradicting his earlier guilty plea on December 20, 2024.

The prosecuting counsel, Chinedu Ikpa Esq., from the State Criminal Investigation Department, Umuahia, had reminded the court that the defendant had already confessed in the charge sheet, admitting that he had no idea what came over him when he committed the grievous crime.

The prosecution had presented undeniable evidence against the accused, including his confession and the IPO’s investigative report.

Citing the case of Uket v. The State (2024) LPELR – 80009 (CA), the prosecution emphasised that for a defilement case to be proved, three key elements must be established, including that the victim must be underage, the accused must have engaged in sexual intercourse with the child and that the child’s consent is irrelevant in such cases.

In a desperate plea for leniency, the defendant fell to his knees, begging the court for mercy and a reduced sentence and expressed his fears of facing life imprisonment under Section 7(1)(2) of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law 2019, under which he was charged.

Earlier, the mother of the victim, a widow, Madam Ugo Obasi, had narrated that the defendant was close to the family, and had taken advantage of her absence to work that day to lure the girl to his house where he defiled the minor.

According to her, on coming back from work, the victim was lying critically ill and unable to eat, bathe and walk well. Upon enquiry, the little girl, name withheld, informed the mother of what happened, stating that the defendant was initially unrepentant until the maternal father of the victim stepped into the matter, having reported it to the police.

She pleaded with the government at all levels to come to her assistance.