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Summary
Ajewole Olamilekan have been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a 10-year-old girl in Ayetoro Ekiti. The rapist grabbed the minor where she was eating, trapped her in a locked room, and sexually violated her. Male sexual abuse of children remains prevalent, with one in four girls having been sexually abused by men in Nigeria.
An Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division have sentenced a 33-year-old-man, Olamilekan Ajewole, to life imprisonment for the rape of a 10-year-old girl on June 29, 2024, in Ayetoro Ekiti.
The prosecutor, O.B. Ayeleso, called five witnesses and tendered the defendant’s statements, CD-ROM, flash drive, medical report and medical documents as exhibits.
In the survivor’s statement to the police, she reported that Olamilekan entered and locked the room where she was eating in the second defendant’s house and grabbed her from behind.
She said, “I shouted, but he covered my mouth with his palm. He removed my pants and forcibly had sex with me. Thereafter, he brought out a handkerchief from his pocket and used it to clean the blood. I wept because of the pain. When I got home, I narrated what happened to my father.”
The court ruled that the prosecution had successfully proven the key elements of the rape charge against the first defendant beyond reasonable doubt, leading to a guilty verdict.
“Consequently, the first defendant (Ajewole) is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment as provided for by Section 31(2) of the Child’s Rights Law, Cap.C7, Laws of Ekiti State 2012”, the judge pronounced.
The court, however, acquitted Ayo Omoyajowo who was arraigned on conspiracy to rape.
The judge, in his judgement, said, “I find no inferable circumstance linking the second defendant (Omoyajowo) to the commission of rape with the first defendant. She is hereby acquitted and discharged.“
Sexual violence, including rape and child sexual abuse, remains alarmingly prevalent in Nigeria. According to the 2014 National Survey on Violence Against Children, one in four girls experiences sexual violence before the age of 18, with over 70% of survivors reporting multiple incidents.
NFM has reported several of these cases including the arrest of 37-year-old Wisdom Benoie for raping his stepdaughter in Bauchi, the conviction of Nasiru Usman who received a 12-year sentence for raping a toddler, and a pedophilia-related case involving the rescue of a 14-year-old girl from child marriage in Gombe.
