An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has sentenced a 25-year-old man to life imprisonment for raping a 17-year-old girl.

The convict, Fajana Olajide was arraigned before Justice Lekan Ogunmoye on 18th January, 2024 on a count charge of rape.

The charge reads that the defendant on 14th July 2023 in Ikere Ekiti within the Jurisdiction of the court did rape a 17-year-old girl, contrary to section 31(2) of the Child’s Rights Law, Cap.C7, laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

In her testimony before the court, the victim said, “I was a student and apprentice, learning about makeover, I was going to our shop around the Ijoka area of Ikere Ekiti.

“I saw the defendant beside the road, he called me when I refused to answer him, he shouted at me and I was afraid, I went to him, and he told me I have a family curse on me that can never make me succeed in life, he ordered me to follow him to his house, he asked me to go and bring some salt, I went home and brought it.

“Thereafter, he ordered me to pull off my clothes and naked, I did so, he gave me an egg to rub all over my body and broke it inside a bucket where he kept black and red thread, he ordered me to lay on the bed and have sexual intercourse with me, he said, I will still need a sum of #16,000 to complete the curse ritual.

“I told him I only had N3,000 in my account, I went to collect it from a P.O.S. for him, he collected it and ordered me again to off my cloth and lay on the bed, I did so, but when he wanted to have sex with me again, I became conscious and refused, I left the place.

“He was thereafter calling my phone, I refused to pick up the calls, I narrated what happened to my mother when I got home, despite his warning not to tell anybody because, I would die immediately I opened my mouth to say it, she concluded.”

To prove his case, the prosecutor Adetola Johnson called three witnesses and tendered the defendant’s statements as an exhibit, the defendant spoke in his own defence through his lawyer, and he called no witnesses.

In his judgement, Justice Lekan Ogunmoye said “The inevitable conclusion in the circumstance is that the guilt of the defendant had been established beyond a reasonable doubt, thus necessitating his conviction.

“He is accordingly convicted as charged and hereby sentenced to life imprisonment.”