An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Thursday sentenced two men to 15 years in prison each for the death of a 12-year-old housemaid they brutally flogged.

The convicts, Edidiong Edem, a 22-year-old painter, and Alex Effiong-Etim, a 21-year-old mechanic, received the sentences from Justice Abiola Soladoye following a plea bargain on an amended charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Delivering judgment, the court found both men guilty and ordered that the custodial sentences take effect from the date they were first remanded in custody.

Court proceedings revealed that the men assaulted the young girl with a broom, causing injuries that eventually became infected with tetanus and led to her death.

Edem and Effiong-Etim were initially arraigned on February 25, 2022, pleading not guilty. However, they later entered a plea bargain agreement, which resulted in the amended charge of involuntary manslaughter.

The prosecution, led by state counsel Oluwaseun Adewoye, stated that the incident occurred in January 2022 at Military Estate, Eleko, Lagos State, and violated Section 224 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.