AN Akure magistrates court, on Friday, ordered that a soldier, Sunday Awolola, allegedly accused of raping a student of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko (AAUA) be kept in the prison custody till the next hearing of his case.
Awolola, who was attached to the 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure, was first arraigned last Wednesday on a one-count charge of rape, but was kept in police custody.
He was alleged to have raped a female student of the Department of Religious and African Studies of AAUA, allegedly at a military checkpoint in Ikare-Akoko, headquarters of Akoko North-East Local Government Area of Ondo State, on July 31, 2019.
The police prosecutor, Mr. Adeoye Adesegun, told the court that the alleged crime was contrary to Section 357 and punishable under Section 358 of the Criminal Code cap 37, Laws of the Ondo State of Nigeria.
The prosecutor prayed the court to remand the accused in prison custody, and explained that the case file had been transferred to the Director of Public Prosecution of the Ondo State Ministry of Justice for legal advice.
Counsel for the defendant, Mr. Kayode Ikotun, in an affidavit he filed before the court, claimed that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the case.
Ikotun, however, prayed the court to grant his client bail due to his health challenge, saying that the health challenge caused his redeployment from Borno State to Ondo State about two months ago.
He also told the court that the defendant’s wife was nursing a two-month-old baby.
The Magistrate, Mayomi Olanipekun, ordered that Awolola be remanded in prison custody pending the outcome of advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecution.
Olanipekun adjourned the matter till November 15, 2019.
Addressing journalists, counsel for the complainant, Olubunmi Akinola, expressed satisfaction with the process, saying all that the victim wants is justice.
Akinola said: “The prosecutor moved an application for the remand of the defendant and the counsel for the defendant also filed a counter-affidavit opposing the move by the prosecutor. And once the legal advise is out and he has a case to answer, he would definitely be tried at the High Court.
“After deliberations by both parties, the court ruled that the defendant be remanded in prison custody pending legal advice from the Department of Public Prosecution.
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