An Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division, on Monday sentenced a 30-year-old man, Ishau Gruma, to life imprisonment for raping a six-year-old girl.
The court, presided over by Justice Adekunle Adeleye, in the judgment, found Gruma guilty, saying, “I find the accused guilty as charged and is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment.”
Adeleye said, “The statement of the victim’s father, the medical report, the defendant’s confession and his request for forgiveness as well as his direct and cogent statement corroborate the fact that the prosecution had successfully prove the element of the offence of rape.”
During the trial, the Ekiti State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Olawale Fapohunda, had said, “The act was committed on or about 20/7/2019 at Erio Ekiti in Ekiti West Council of Ekiti State.”
Fapohunda had said that “the offence was contrary to section 31(2) of the Child’s Right Law CAP, C7 laws of Ekiti State of Nigeria 2005.”
The defendant (now convict), who was first arraigned on February 28, 2020, had pleaded not guilty when the charge was read and interpreted to him.
The victim’s father, had while relating how the incident happened, said that he was asleep when the defendant came to his house and used the opportunity to lure the girl into a nearby bush and forcibly had sex with his daughter.
Credit: Punch