An Ekiti State court has slammed a septuagenarian with a life sentence for raping a minor said to be the granddaughter of his best friend.
The 71-year-old convict, who was identified as Sule Adeola, had been arraigned before Justice Blessing Ajileye on June 22, 2023.
The judge in her judgment, found the old man guilty as charged, noting that the increasing incidence of intimate person’s sexual assault, was unfortunate and saddening.
“From the totality of evidence on record, I am more persuaded by the prosecution’s evidence that there was proof of penetration, there is no scintilla of evidence available to the contrary,” Ajileye said.
“In all, I found that the prosecution proved the most essential ingredient of rape, that is penetration.
“The defendant penetrated the vagina of the victim and I so hold.
“The defendant, Sule Adeola, is found guilty of the offence of rape of a 10-year-old girl as charged.
“He is accordingly sentenced to life imprisonment,” the judge ruled.
The charge was read to Sule Adeola on June 2, 2023, at the Federal Housing Estate in Ado Ekiti.
The offence contravenes Section 31 (1) of the Child’s Rights Law, Cap. C7, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.
Julius Ajibare, the prosecutor, called four witnesses and tendered the minor’s statement and medical report as exhibits to prove his case.
The minor said in her testimony: My mother is late and my father lives in Abeokuta. I am living with my grandmother. Daddy Sule was my grandmother’s neighbour.
“Anytime I was sent on an errand, he would call me to his room, ask me to lay on his bed, pull down my pants and insert his penis in my vagina.
“He has been doing this every week since the year 2021, I felt so much pain anytime he did it, but I did not tell my grandmother because daddy Sule said he would kill me.”
In a related development, also in Ekiti State, a middle-aged man was on Wednesday ordered remanded in a correctional centre for allegedly raping his 22-year-old daughter.
Magistrate Olubunmi Bamidele of Ado-Ekiti Magistrates’ Court gave the order for the remand of the 42-year-old suspect Christopher Israel, who was charged with rape and assault by the police.
However, she did not take Israel’s plea for want in jurisdiction but ordered that the suspect should be remanded in the correctional centre in Ado Ekiti, pending legal advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP.
Bamidele adjourned the case until Nov.6 for mention.
Insp Olubu Apata, the prosecutor, had accused Israel of allegedly raping his daughter, who visited him on Sept. 21 in Ado-Ekiti and injuring her, as she struggled with him.
The prosecutor added that Israel’s action was contrary to the provisions of Sections 265 and 256 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State 2021.
He pleaded with the court to remand Israel, pending the DPP’s legal advice.
