The Akure Division of the Ondo State High Court on Thursday sentenced a commercial motorcyclist, Dare Ojo, to death by hanging for raping and killing a minor, identified as Zainab Adeyemo, at the Ese/Irun-Akoko road in Akoko North-East Local Government Area of the state.

Ojo had committed the offences on July 17, 2020, while conveying the 11-year-old Adeyemo to a market in Irun-Akoko on his bike.

During the trial, the court heard that Zainab’s mother had hired Ojo to transport her daughter from Ese-Akoko to the Irun-Akoko market.

However, when the girl failed to arrive on time, her worried parents contacted her mother’s colleagues at the market, who said they had not seen her.

The family then reached out to Ojo, who claimed to have dropped the girl off at the market.

A search party was later organized in the community, and the naked body of the deceased was found in a bush along the Ese/Irun-Akoko road.

In his verdict, Justice Yemi Fasanmi held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt, relying on the findings of a pathologist from the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, which showed signs of struggle and confirmed that the victim had been forcefully penetrated.

Justice Fasanmi also noted that the police investigation revealed that Ojo led officers to the scene of the crime.

Although there was no eyewitness account, the judge invoked the “doctrine of last seen,” stating that Ojo was the last person seen with the victim before her death.

“The accused was the last person who saw Zainab Adeyemo alive. There was no other person who saw her after he took her away,” he said.

Counsel to the defendant, Kolawole Olusegun Oluwa, pleaded with the court to be lenient.

Ojo himself also begged for mercy.

However, the court sentenced the convict to life imprisonment for rape under Section 31(1–3) of the Ondo State Child’s Rights Law, 2007, and death by hanging for murder under Section 319(1) of the Criminal Code, Cap 37, Vol. 1, Laws of Ondo State, 2006.

The defence counsel lauded the court for its diligence in the case.

Speaking to journalists, the prosecution counsel, Afolabi Victory Bolanle, a Director in the Ondo State Ministry of Justice and Administrative Secretary of the Ondo State Agency Against Gender-Based Violence (OSA-GBV), said justice had been served for all parties involved.

“This is a case of rape and murder. The accused was charged with having sexual intercourse with a child, contrary to Section 31 of the Child’s Rights Law, 2007, and with murder, punishable under Section 319 of the Criminal Code.

“The case began in 2020 and went through several amendments before being reopened in 2023. The prosecution called six witnesses, while the defendant testified alone. In the end, he was found guilty of both counts,” she said.

Bolanle described the judgment as a relief, noting that it delivered justice to the deceased, her family, and the state.

“Though the child is gone, today she got a judgment. Justice was served for the victim, the family, the state, and even the defendant because he was convicted of the offences he committed. That is the beauty of the law.

“And today, we are happy. We are grateful to the courts, and we are happy even for the deceased. Even though she’s dead, we are also happy that the family members got judgments.

“Let me add this. I must also commend the prosecutor, the legal officer, and the director of legal services in the Agency Against Gender-Based Violence, Barrister John Dada Joshua, who prosecuted this case from the beginning to the end. I’m commending his doggedness,” she said.

Source; The Nation News