Eko Hot Blog reports that Oluwagbemi Alabi, a 45-year-old teacher in Ekiti, has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for raping an eight-year-old girl.
Alabi was said to have committed the offence in 1999. He was arraigned at the Ekiti state high court on August 25, 2023, on one count of rape.
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The offence is contrary to and punishable under Section 358 of the Criminal Code, Cap 30, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 1978.
Testifying before the court, the victim, who referred to Alabi as “my teacher and neighbour”, narrated how the accused raped her in her home.
“He touched my breast each time he came to teach me at home. I did not understand anything about what he was doing until he raped me in our sitting room when my mother travelled to Lagos and left me and my sister at home,” she said.
“He removed my cloth and used it to clean the blood and sperm and threw it away. I later ran to our neighbours weeping, they thought I was missing my mother, but I did not tell them what happened.
“I was afraid anytime I saw him in the class.”
She added that Alabi also sent her friend request on Facebook in 2012 but she did not accept it.
“In year 2023 again, he started disturbing me. I reported the matter to the law enforcement agents. I was advised to ignore him. Thereafter, he started sending disturbing and annoying videos and messages to me, referring to the past ugly incident. When I could no more bear it, I decided to take a legal action against him,” she told the court.
Kunle-Shina Adeyemo, the prosecutor, also called two witnesses and tendered a confessional statement of the defendant, evidence of the defendant’s conversations with the nominal complainant, a petition and a printout from a screenshot of chats among others as exhibits.
Alabi also spoke in his defence through Ademola Adeyemi, his lawyer.
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In his judgment, Lekan Ogunmoye, the judge, said the sexual intercourse with the victim could not have been consensual since the minor could not consent to sexual intercourse.
“The defendant is hereby sentenced to 15 years imprisonment without option of fine,” the judge pronounced.
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