Gom Mirian
A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Kubwa, Abuja, has handed down a life jail term to a former Chief Pharmacist of the National Hospital, Abuja, Abubakar Mustapha Danraka, for the sodomising a juvenile.
The court, presided over by Justice Akanbi-Yusuf, found Danraka guilty under Section 1 of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, 2015, and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Danraka, who is also the Senior Special Adviser (Technical) to the Director of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, was apprehended on March 27, 2020, for defiling a minor (name withheld) his neighbour in Abuja.
Africa Health Report (AHR) gathered that he lured the victim to his apartment and had anal intercourse with him after stupefying him with a drink. He was charged to court on August 9, 2021, and was arraigned on April 5. 2022, where he pleaded “not guilty”.
Reacting to the judgment, the Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP), Professor Fatima Waziri-Azi, praised the judiciary for its tenacity in seeing that justice was done by the VAPP Act.
She said, “I want to especially commend the judiciary for its sustained collaboration, and support in the implementation of the VAPP/Law in the country which has culminated in this landmark judgment, this is a victory for us as a country.
“In our bid to make Nigeria a violence–free nation, in collaboration with all our esteemed partners and stakeholders, we will continue to scale our efforts in ensuring more convictions and less impunity,” she added.
