An High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, sentenced a 45 years old man, identified as Oluwagbemi Alabi, to 15 years imprisonment.
It was gathered that Oluwagbemi, a teacher, was accused for allegedly raping an eight years old girl.
INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that the convict, who committed the offence in 1999, was arraigned on 25th August 2023 on one count charge of rape.
The charge read: “Alabi Oluwafemi sometime in the year 1999 at Ikere Ekiti within the jurisdiction of this honourable court did rape an eight-year-old girl, at the time of committing the offence.
“The offence was contrary to and punishable under Section 358 of the Criminal Code, Cap 30, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 1978.”
During her testimony in court, the victim disclosed that Oluwagbemi was her teacher and her neighbor.
She said: “He touched my breast each time he came to teach me at home, I did not understand anything about what he was doing until he raped me in our sitting room when my mother travelled to Lagos and left me and my sister at home.
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“He removed my cloth and used it to clean the blood and sperm and threw it away. I later ran to our neighbours weeping, they thought I was missing my mother, but I did not tell them what happened.
“I was afraid anytime I saw him in the class. He came across me on Facebook sometime in the year 2012, he sent me a friend request and I declined.
“In the year 2023 again, he started disturbing me, I reported the matter to the law enforcement agents, and I was advised to ignore him.
“Thereafter, he started sending disturbing and annoying videos and messages to me, referring to the past ugly incident. When I could no more bear it, I decided to take legal action against him.”
In the judgment, Justice Lekan Ogunmoye said: “The sexual intercourse with the victim could not have been consensual in that, she, as an eight-year-old girl, was a minor and lacked the capacity to consent to sexual intercourse.
“The confessional statement of the defendant also showed without equivocation that the defendant indeed committed the offence.
“This issue is resolved in favour of the prosecution and the defendant is found guilty as charged.
“One of the aims of sentencing is to serve as a deterrent. The defendant is hereby sentenced to 15 years imprisonment without option of fine.”
