An Ekiti State High Court in Ado-Ekiti has sentenced a 71-year-old man, Sule Adeola, to life imprisonment for raping a minor.

The convict was arraigned before Justice Blessing Ajileye on June 22, 2023, on a charge of raping his friend’s grandaughter.

In a judgment, Ajileye said, “it was unfortunate and saddening that recorded cases of intimate person’s sexual assault, hits new high every day. 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 on the contrary. In all, I found that the prosecution proved the most essential ingredient of rape and 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 charge read that Adeola on June 2, 2023, at the Federal Housing Estate in Ado Ekiti defiled a 10- year old girl. The offence contravenes Section 31 (1) of the Child’s Right Law, Cap. C7, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

In testimony before the court, the victim said, “My mother is late and my father lives in Abeokuta. I live with my grandmother. Daddy Sule is my grandmother’s neighbour. Anytime I was sent on an errand, he would call me to his room, ask me to lie on his bed, pull down my pants and insert his penis in my vagina. He has been doing this every week since 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.’’

The Police Prosecutor Julius Ajibare, called four witnesses and tendered survivor’s statement and medical report as exhibits.

The Counsel for the defendant, Adelphi Ayobiooloja, led his client in evidence and called three witnesses.

(NAN)