By Abdulgafar Oladimeji, Kano
A Kano State high court sitting at Miller Road has handed down 14-year-jail term to a private school headmaster, Ahmed Rufai Y. Bello, for defiling two of his pupils (names withheld).
The convict, who resides at No. 223 Kabuga Quarters, Kano, lured the pupils of age six and seven into his office while serving as the headmaster of De Emirates Academy.
According to the charge sheet, Mr Bello, sometimes in September 2015 and February 2016, after succeeded in luring the girls into his office, committed digital penetration on them.
Mr Bello however pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecution counsel had summoned seven witnesses, who testified against Mr Bello.
State principal counsel, Bashir Sale, informed the court that Mr Bello acted in a manner tantamount to gross indecency.
He said the headmaster’s action contravened the provisions of Section 285 of the Penal Code Law of Kano State as amended in 1991.
Mr Sale said the act was become public when one of the victims reported to her mother what transpired between her and the headmaster.
The court heard that the mother of the victim, therefore, reported the matter to the authorities.
A medical doctor at Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Kano, I.A. Oricha, examined the defiled pupils, and reported that their hymens were ruptured.
A police inspector attached to Sexual and Other Related Offences unit, Maryam Nurudeen, had told the court that she recorded the statement of the convict and led the team of police officers to investigate the matter.
Justice Nasiru Saminu in his verdict, pronounce Mr Bello guilty as charged, and sentenced him to 14 years in jail without option of fine.
The judge further ordered the convict to pay N50,000 as compensation to each of the victims.
He also ordered the convict to pay N50,000 fine to the state, warning that failure to comply would earn the convict an additional six months in jail.
