A 71-year-old man, identified as Sule Adeola, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division, for defiling a 10-year-old girl, News About Nigeria reports.
The suspect was convicted on Wednesday by Justice Blessing Ajileye.
She noted that from the totality of evidence on record by the prosecution, there was proof of penetration, adding that there is no scintilla of evidence available to the contrary.
The defendant was, therefore, found guilty of rape and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Justice Ajileye stated, “It is unfortunate and saddening that recorded cases of intimate person’s sexual assault hit a new high every day.
“From the totality of evidence on record, I am more persuaded by the prosecution’s evidence that there was proof of penetration, there is no scintilla of evidence available to the contrary. In all, I found that the prosecution proved the most essential ingredient of rape, i.e., penetration. The defendant penetrated the vagina of the victim and I so hold.”
The judge pronounced, “The defendant, Sule Adeola, is found guilty of the offence of rape of a 10-year-old girl as charged. He is accordingly sentenced to life imprisonment.”
The defendant was charged to court on June 22, 2023, on a one-count charge bordering on rape.
The 10-year-old victim, who is living with her grandmother, had said that the defendant, who was her grandmother’s neighbour, violated her between 2021 and 2023, but she did not tell her grandmother initially because the defendant had threatened to kill her if she exposed him.
