Teacher gets 15 years in prison for raping a minor in Ekiti

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: “Sometime in 1999, Alabi Oluwafemi raped an eight-year-old girl at Ikere Ekiti within the jurisdiction of this honorable court at the time of commission of the offence.

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

In his statement to the court, the victim, who said Alabi was his teacher and neighbor, said: “Every time he came to teach me at home, he touched my chest. “I didn’t understand anything he was doing until he raped me” in our living room when my mother traveled to Lagos and left 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 harassing me again, I reported the matter to law enforcement and 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 exhibits, among others, a confession of the accused, evidence of the accused’s conversations with the named plaintiff, a petition and a printout of the screenshot of chats.

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

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