An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has sentenced a 37 years old man, Adebamigbe Samuel, to life imprisonment for raping a 13-year-old teenager.
He was tried and found guilty on the charge of rape.
The charge reads, “That you, Samuel Adebamigbe, on the 3rd day of November 2020 at Ado Ekiti, within the jurisdiction of the court did rape a 13-year-old girl, contrary to Section 31(2) of the Child’s Right Law, Cap. C7, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.’’
In her statement to the police, the victim said she was sent by her mother to deliver bread to the defendant on request.
She said that when she got there, he told her that he wanted to buy pepper soup around the Ajilosun area of Ado Ekiti, unknown to her, it was a hotel, adding, “He asked me to sit in a room till when the pepper soup will be ready, when he came back, he locked the door and had sexual intercourse with me twice. I shouted, but there was nobody to rescue me. He later gave me N1,500 and warned me not to tell anybody”.
The girl narrated the incident to her mother, who in turn reported the case at the police station, hence, his arrest and arraignment.
To prove his case, the prosecutor, Kunle Adeyemo, called five witnesses and tendered the statement of the victim, her birth certificate, medical report among others as exhibits.
The defendant spoke in his own defence through his lawyer and called three witnesses.
In the court judgment, Justice Lekan Ogunmoye said, ‘‘The defendant willingly had sexual intercourse with the victim. The prosecution had therefore proved its case beyond reasonable doubt with the implication that the sole issue for determination is resolved in favour of the prosecution.
“The defendant is hereby convicted as charged. He is sentenced to life imprisonment,” the judge pronounced.
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