Sule Adeola, aged 71, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Ado Ekiti Division of the Ekiti State High Court for the rape of a 10-year-old girl.
The defendant was charged to court on June 22, 2023, on a one-count charge bordering on rape.
The charge read, “That Sule Adeola on 2nd June 2023 at the Federal Housing Estate in Ado Ekiti did rape a 10-year-old girl, contrary to Section 31(1) of the Child’s Right Law, Cap. C7, laws of Ekiti State, 2012.”
The 10-year-old victim, who lived with her grandmother, said that between 2021 and 2023, the defendant, who was her grandmother’s neighbour violated her. However, the victim withheld this information from her grandmother at first because the defendant had threatened to kill her.
Julius Ajibare, the prosecutor, questioned four witnesses and submitted the defendant’s statement and medical report as documents to support his case.
The defendant spoke through his counsel, Adefolaju Ayobioloja, and called three witnesses.
In the judgment on Wednesday, Justice Blessing Ajileye, said, “It is unfortunate and saddening that recorded cases of intimate person’s sexual assault, hit 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 in 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.”
