Okada Rider Jailed For Life Over R*pe Of Lady, 21

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE 

Justice has finally come the way for a 21-year old lady, who was raped by a motorcycle operator a.k.a Okada rider, Michael Ahmed, while she was going home after a church service in Lagos State. 

P.M.EXPRESS reports the Lagos State High Court, sitting in Ikeja, convicted and sentenced the 33-year old Ahmed to life imprisonment without an option fine for raping the lady.

The lady had boarded his motorcycle as a passenger in an estate in Lagos on her way home from church. He assaulted and raped her in the process taking her to her destination. 

During allocutus, the motorcyclist’s lawyer, Barrister Ramon Bashir, pleaded with the Court to temper justice with mercy, stressing that the defendant had no past criminal record.

After the rape incident took place, the matter was reported to the Police, who trailed and eventually arrested him for interrogation over the alleged dastardly act. 

During interrogation, he denied but the Police found him culpable based on the evidence available and subsequently charged him before the Court for statutory rape.

The trial went on before the Court for several months and the parties testified before the Court and the matter was scheduled for judgement.

While delivering judgment, Justice Hakeem Oshodi stated that the prosecutor proved the matter beyond reasonable doubt that Ahmed was guilty as charged based on the evidence before the Court. 

“The victim’s evidence is succinct and unambiguous, whereas the defendant’s evidence is skewed before the Court. In the time of the occurrence, how he traveled to the police station, and the name he was given on the day of the incident, he tried to manipulate the facts.”

“The defendant pushed himself on the victim, according to the evidence before the Court and bit the victim on the shoulder, according to the evidence before the Court.”

“The defendant is hereby found guilty of rape and serious assault on both charges.”

 Justice Oshodi said the Court heard the allocutus by the defence counsel and stated that the Court had no authority to sentence rape defendants to a reduced sentence.

“The defendant is hereby condemned to life in prison, which is the statutory penalty for rape, and three years in prison for serious assault,” the Court ruled.