An Akwa Ibom State High Court in Uyo has sentenced a 50-year-old pastor to 49 years in prison after convicting him of repeatedly defiling his biological daughter and facilitating three abortions to conceal the crimes.
Apostle Williams Okon Bassey, a cleric with the Mount Zion Light House Full Gospel Church and a native of Ikono Local Government Area, was found guilty following a protracted trial in which the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, according to the presiding judge, Justice Bassey Nkanang.
Court documents show that Bassey subjected his daughter to repeated sexual abuse across three separate incidents in 2012, 2014 and 2015, each resulting in pregnancy. On each occasion, he transported the girl to her mother in Eket, disclosed the pregnancy, and left the woman to arrange an abortion.
In a confessional statement captured in the charge sheet, Bassey described the first incident as occurring when his daughter, then approximately 16 years old, was scratching his back. He admitted to initiating sexual contact and said he subsequently continued the abuse each time he had disputes with his wife.
“She became pregnant the second time, and I returned her to the mother who still took her to abort the pregnancy. When she returned the second time, I continued the act, which resulted in the third pregnancy and the mother still took her for abortion,” he stated.
The court found that the prosecution had established the charges to the required standard, and Justice Nkanang proceeded to conviction and sentencing. The mother’s role in procuring the three terminations was also documented in the charge sheet, though the judgment focused on the principal defendant.
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