Abia jails two sexual offenders, opens register to name and shame convicts

The Abia State Government has said it has successfully prosecuted two sexual offenders in the state for defiling two minors, stating that the suspects have been convicted and jailed by a Family Court sitting at the Umuahia High Court.

The state’s Commissioner for Information, Okey Kanu, disclosed this at the Government House on Monday while briefing journalists on the outcome of this week’s Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.

He explained that one of the sexual offenders was convicted and sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment for allegedly raping a teenager, while the second offender was sentenced to 10 years in prison for defiling a five-year-old child.

The commissioner noted that the victims of the sexual assaults and other gender-based and domestic violence cases are now receiving treatment at the state government’s Sexual Assault Referral and Treatment Centre in Aba.

Also speaking on the convictions, the Abia State Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Mrs Ngozi Blessing Felix, said that a 35-year-old sexual offence suspect who fled to Nasarawa State after committing the crime was tracked and brought back to Abia by the police to face trial.

The commissioner said the suspect, upon his arraignment on July 9, 2026, pleaded guilty to the charges read against him by the prosecution counsel, leading to his conviction on the same day.

Mrs Felix further disclosed that the state government has opened a sexual offenders’ register at the Abia State Ministry of Justice to be used for naming and shaming convicted sexual offenders.

“I would also like to send a warning to sexual offenders that we have a sexual offenders’ register at the Ministry of Justice for naming and shaming sexual offenders.

“So, when somebody is caught, after they are convicted, their names are entered into the register, and this serves as a deterrent to those who may become potential offenders in the future,” the commissioner said.

Adding his voice during the press briefing, the Abia State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Enoch Uche, said that the state recorded a drastic drop in the infant mortality rate between January 2026 and March 2026.