Driver sentenced to life imprisonment over rape

……Ilesanmi Adewale, 42, was sentenced to life imprisonment by an Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division, for raping a 16-year-old girl in Isan Ekiti, Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

According to the charge, the defendant raped a 16-year-old girl on February 13, 2021, in violation of Section 31(2) of the Child’s Right Law, Cap. C7, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012, and was arraigned on December 16, 2021.

The victim stated to the police, “My father sent me to Iludun Ekiti from Isan Ekiti to collect his ATM card and N8,000 he had at home.” I entered the commercial driver’s automobile on my route back to Isan, and I was alone in the car with him. He began by touching my breast and I cautioned him to stop it.

“When he stopped the car in a thicket between Isan and Iludun, I opened the door and fled away.” He pursued and captured me, then carried me to a neighboring bush on his shoulder. If I didn’t cooperate, he threatened to murder me with the cutlass in his hand. He violently removed my pant and had sexual contact with me. As I wept, I bit his hands and tore his fabric, but he refused to leave me.

,,,,,”He then took my father’s ATM card and N8,000 from me.” He asked me not to tell my father when he returned them to me. “However, as I returned to the road, I spotted my father on a motorbike, and I told the driver what had happened to him; the driver was caught and afterwards transported to the Police station,” she explained.

The prosecution, Folashade Alli, called three witnesses and presented evidence including the victim’s trouser, a cutlass, a medical report, and the defendant’s comments.

In his defense, the defendant spoke via his attorney but did not call any witnesses.

In the verdict, Justice Monisola Abodunde stated, “The crime of rape of a minor is taking a scary dimension in our jurisdiction; I cannot dispute the limits set by the law.” The obligatory clause states that if a person is convicted of rape, he faces life in prison.

,,,,,”Based on the foregoing logic and in strict obedience to the terms of the law, I have no choice but to sentence the defendant to life imprisonment,” the Judge stated.