- The 47-year-old cleric was convicted and sentenced by an Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division, on Monday.
In Ekiti State, one Prophet Adeleye Akingbaso will spend the rest of his life in jail for defiling a 13-year-old girl, a court has ruled
The 47-year-old cleric was convicted and sentenced by the State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division, on Monday.
The convict, who was arraigned in September 2022 on two counts bordering on rape and coercion, was said to have committed the offence in July 2021 and in July 2022 at Ado-Ekiti.
According to the charge, “The Prophet, sometime in July 2022 at Ado-Ekiti, did rape a 13-year-old girl. Also in July 2021, Prophet Adeleye coerced the victim to engage in a sexual act to the detriment of her physical and psychological well-being.
“The offences are contrary to Section 31(2) of the Child’s Rights Law, Cap. C7, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012 and Section 4 of the Ekiti State Gender-Based Violence (Prohibition) Law, No.18 of 2019,” the charge stated.
In her testimony before the court, the victim, who described the cleric as a friend to her mother and was sleeping over in their house, said the man committed the act one night when her mother was on night duty.
She said, “He woke me up at midnight and said I bedwetted, which was strange to me. He brought out a bottle of shea butter and rubbed it on my vagina, that was all I knew. I later discovered I had been raped that night. He threatened me that he would curse me and I would die if I told anybody.
“He came to our house again the following day when my mother was not around. I was in the kitchen, he told me he wanted to complete what he started the previous night. He attempted to rough-handle me, but I escaped and shouted for help following which our neighbours came to my rescue. They called and informed my mother of the incident. She came home and later reported the case to the police,” the victim said.
To prove his case, the prosecutor, Taiwo Ariyo, called four witnesses and tendered the statement of the victim and medical report as exhibits, while the defendant, who spoke in his own defence through his lawyer, Adelanke Akinrata, called no witness.
In the court judgment, Justice Blessing Ajileye found the cleric guilty on the two counts.
Ajikeye said, “In conclusion, this court has found the defendant guilty on the two-count charge of rape and coercion and convicted him accordingly. This will serve as a deterrent to others in the class of the defendant who have not been caught up by the nemesis of law.
“On count one (rape), the defendant is sentenced to life imprisonment and on count two (coercion), the defendant is sentenced to three years imprisonment. Both terms are to run concurrently,” Justice Ajileye pronounced
Discussion about this post