Justice Abiodun Akinyemi of Ogun State High Court, Abeokuta, on Monday, sentenced 47-year-old secondary school teacher, Ojo Ezekiel, to life imprisonment after being convicted of raping a seven-year-old minor in the Ogun State capital.
Ojo Ezekiel, who was first arraigned on July 1, 2022, was convicted on a sole count of rape contrary to section 3 (1) and punishable under section 3 (2) of the violence against persons (prohibition) law of Ogun State 2017.
Ezekiel is said to be a teacher in the secondary school, which shares the same compound as the primary school that the seven-year-old attended.
The prosecuting counsel, Mr Olusegun Olaotan, had told the court that while the victim’s mother was bathing her seven-year-old daughter, she observed that something was wrong with her private part.
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The seven-year-old, however, after persistent questioning, revealed to her mother how she was sexually abused by the convict
Olaotan, in his final submission, said, “While giving her evidence in court, the second prosecution witness (PW2), who is the victim, said that the defendant used to pull aside her pant before inserting his finger into her vagina.
“Evidence of the third prosecution witness (PW3) (medical doctor) corroborates that of the second prosecution witness. She testified that in the course of examining the (PW2), she discovered that the hymen of the PW2 was not intact. it was opened by 2cm.”
He said that PW2 evidence is corroborative of the fact that she was sexually abused indeed, and the same was further corroborated by exhibits two and three as well as the evidence of (PW1), the mother of the child who noticed while bathing her that something was wrong with her private part.
Olaotan further revealed that the victim mentioned the name of the defendant as the only person who repeatedly four times inserted his finger into the private part of the under-age girl
The victim reportedly told the court that the defendant usually carried out this heinous crime inside his car, parked under a tree after school hours, after which he would instruct the victim not to tell anyone, or else she would be beaten.
Olaotan thereafter urged the court to go ahead and punish the defendant for his misdeeds as evidence before the court was quite overwhelming and weighty enough to hold that the defendant was guilty of rape and should be convicted accordingly.
Justice Abiodun Akinyemi said the prosecuting counsel had established the case of rape against the accused and thereafter sentenced him to life imprisonment.
