A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Sokoto State on Tuesday sentenced three men to four and half years’ imprisonment each for circulating a nude video.
The court sentenced Aminu Yahatu-Tafida, Umar Abubakar and Mas’ud Gidado, all residents of Sokoto.
The court found them guilty of abatement, sale/circulation of obscene books, obscene and indecent acts.
The convicts were first arraigned on October 5, 2020.
The offences contravened the Penal Code, Laws of Sokoto State.
The prosecutor, ASP Samuel Sule, earlier told the court that the case was reported by a resident of Bardon Barade, Sokoto (name withheld).
Sule said that Hayatu-Tafida (a.k.a. Baffa), sometime in 2017, lured a 16-year-old daughter of the complainant to the Phoenix Guest Inn, had unlawful carnal knowledge of her and recorded her nudity in an 18-second video clip.
According to him, Hayatu-Tafida conspired with the others and circulated the nude video on social media.
He added that the acts resulted in the termination of the victim’s wedding scheduled to take place in October 2020.
In his judgement, Chief Magistrate Shu’aibu Ahmad said that he considered the convicts’ plea for leniency, adding that they were first-time offenders.
Ahmad sentenced the convicts to two years’ imprisonment each for the obscene and indecent acts, with an option N200,000 fine.
He sentenced them to two years’ imprisonment each for the sale and circulation of obscene materials, and six months imprisonment each for abatement, with an N50,000 fine option for each of the offences.
He hoped that the sentences would serve as a deterrent to others.
Ahmad also ordered each of the convicts to pay N100,000 to the complainant as compensation.
