A 71-year old man, Sule Adeola, will have to spend the rest of his life in prison for defiling his neighbour’s 10-year old grand daughter in Ekiti State.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that it was the judgment of the Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division, which found him guilty under the Criminal Laws of the State and sentenced him accordingly.
The convict, Adeola, was arrested and charged before Court on 2nd June, 2023, on a one-count charge bordering on statutory rape, which happened at the Federal Housing Estate in Ado Ekiti, where they reside.
The charge read, “That you, Sule Adeola on 2nd June 2023 at the Federal Housing Estate in Ado Ekiti, did rape a 10-year-old girl, contrary to Section 31(1) of the Child’s Right Law, Cap. C7, laws of Ekiti State, 2012.”
According to the Police, the victim who was living with her grandmother, said that the suspect, who was her grandmother’s neighbour, violated her between 2021and 2023, but she did not tell her grandmother initially because the suspect had threatened to kill her.
To prove his case, the prosecutor, Julius Ajibare, called four witnesses and tendered the defendant’s statement and medical report as exhibits.
However, Adeola, through his counsel, Adefolaju Ayobioloja called three witnesses to prove his innocence on the matter.
In the judgment, the presiding judge, Justice Blessing Ajileye, said, “It is unfortunate and saddening that recorded cases of intimate person’s sexual assault, hit 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 in the contrary. In all, I found that the prosecution proved the most essential ingredient of rape i.e. penetration. The defendant penetrated the vagina of the victim and I so hold.”
The judge found Sule Adeola guilty as charged on the offence of rape and consequently sentenced him to life imprisonment accordingly.