A local government worker in Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Ojo, has been jailed for life by an Ado Ekiti high court for abducting and raping an underage girl.
Ojo was convicted for abducting and raping the 15-year-old girl (name withheld), for 21 days.
He was accused of abducting the minor from her home in Ijero Local Government Area and taken to a secret location where he was said to have committed the act.
Justice Oluwatoyin Abodunde, in her judgment, found Ojo guilty as charged and sentenced the accused for life.
Justice Abodunde also found him guilty of abduction and ruled that the terms are to run concurrently.
The prosecutor and Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in the state, Mr. Gbemiga Adaramola, called seven witnesses during the trial and tendered exhibits which included statements of the victim and the convict, and a medical report which had established the rape.
On his part, Ojo did not call any witness apart from himself in the course of the trial, but was represented by his counsel, Tosin Osundahunsi.
He was first arraigned on February 2, 2016 on a two-count charge of rape and abduction.
It was gathered that a good Samaritan who saw blood stains on the victim’s cloth took the girl to Ijero Local Government Immigration Office to report the case when it occurred.
The girl identified Ojo while at the council secretariat and accused him of abducting and serially raping her.
He was arrested by Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) officers at the council secretariat who handed him over to the police at the Ijero Police Station, where the case was reported.
The girl was living with her stepmother after her father and mother had separated.
Her mother was said to have relocated to Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
According to the prosecution, maltreatment of the minor, allegedly by her step mother, forced her out of the house and she was said to have met the convict who had promised to take care of her.
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