Ekiti teacher sentenced to 15 years in prison for raping minors

An Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division, has sentenced a 45-year-old teacher, Oluwagbemi Alabi, to 15 years in prison for raping an eight-year-old girl.

Alabi, who committed the crime in 1999, was charged with one count of rape on August 25, 2023.

The charge read: “Alabi Oluwafemi raped an eight-year-old girl at Ikere Ekiti within the jurisdiction of this honorable court sometime in 1999 at the time of commission of the offence.”

“The offense violated Section 358 of the Penal Code, Ch. 30, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria 1978 and was punishable.”

In his statement in court, the victim, who described Alabi as his teacher and neighbour, said: “Every time he came to teach me at home, he would touch my breast.” I did not understand anything he was doing until he raped me in our living room when my mother travelled to Lagos, leaving me and my sister at home.

“He removed my cloth, cleaned the blood and semen with it and threw it away. Later I ran to our neighbors crying, they thought I was missing my mother, but I didn’t tell them what happened.”

The victim, who said he dropped out of school because she could no longer concentrate on her studies, said: “I was scared every time I saw him in class. At some point in 2012, he came across me on Facebook, sent me a friend request and I declined.

“In 2023, he started bothering me again. I have reported the matter to law enforcement. I was advised to ignore him. After that, he started sending me disturbing and annoying videos and messages referencing the past ugly incident. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I decided to take legal action against him,” she told the court.

To prove his case, prosecutor Kunle-Shina Adeyemo called two witnesses and presented as evidence, among others, a confession of the accused, evidence of the accused’s conversations with the named plaintiff, a petition and a printout of a screenshot of chats.

The accused spoke through his lawyer, Ademola Adeyemi, in his own defense and called two witnesses.

In his judgment, Justice Lekan Ogunmoye said: “The sexual intercourse with the victim could not have been consensual because as an eight-year-old girl, she was a minor and incapable of consenting to the sexual intercourse.”

“The defendant’s confession also clearly showed that the defendant actually committed the crime.

“This matter will be resolved in favor of the prosecution and the defendant will be found guilty as charged.” One of the goals of sentencing is deterrence. “The defendant is hereby sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment without the option of a fine,” the judge said.