An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure, has condemned to death by hanging Dare Ojo who raped and murdered an 11-year-old girl, Zainab Adeyemo, along Ese/Irun-Akoko Road, Akoko North-East Local Government Area of the state.

The accused was alleged to have committed the offences on July 17, 2020 while conveying the deceased on his commercial motorcycle to the market at Irun-Akoko.

During the proceedings, the mother of the deceased had called Dare Ojo, who was a commercial motorcycle rider, popularly known as Okada, to take the late Zainab Adeyemo from Ese-Akoko to the market at Irun-Akoko. But when the parents of the deceased didn?t see her, they contacted her mother?s colleagues at the market only to be told that they didn?t see her in the market.

They therefore contacted Dare Ojo who took her away on his motorcycle who told them that he dropped her off at the market. A search party was therefore set up in the community and eventually found the dead body of Zainab Adeyemo naked.

In his verdict, Justice Yemi Fasanmi said that the accused was guilty of the charges based on findings of the pathologist from Federal Medical Centre, Owo, who carried out test on remains of the deceased. He established that there was struggle and the vaginal of the deceased was forcefully penetrated.

Besides, the police investigator also told the court that the accused led him and some Police to the scene of the incident in a bush.

The presiding judge said though there was no eyewitness account, but he invoked the Doctrine of Last Seen. According to the judge, Dare Ojo was the last person who saw Zainab Adeyemo as there was no other person who saw her after the accused took away.

When given opportunity to talk to the court, the defendant, Dare Ojo, pleaded for mercy.

However, the court sentenced the accused to life imprisonment having found him guilty of the first charge, rape, punishable under section 31(1), (2), and (3) of the Ondo State Child?s Right Law, 2007,

The court also condemned the accused to death by hanging having been found guilty of the murder punishable under section 319(1) of the Criminal Code Cap 37, vol. 1, Laws of Ondo, 2006.

Speaking after the judgement, the defendant?s attorney appreciated the diligence of the court.

Fielding questions from journalists after the sitting, the prosecution attorney, Afolabi Victory Bolanle, who is a Director in the state Ministry of Justice, and the Administrative Secretary, Ondo State Agency Against Gender Based Violence (OSA-GBV), said all parties to the matter got justice.

She said: ?This is a case of murder and rape. The accused was charged for a case of having sexual intercourse with a child, which is contrary to section 31, 1, subsection 1, subsection 2, and 3 of the child?s right law, year 2007, as well as a murder, contrary to section 316, and punishable under section 319 of the criminal code, chapter 27 of the state law, 2006. The case was initially filed in 2020.

?Then there was also an amendment later to the charges, and further amendments. So the case eventually was opened in 2023, and it continued until today when the judgment was given by the court. The prosecution called six witnesses, while the defendants gave evidence without calling any witnesses.

?So, at the end of the day, he was found guilty of count one and two. Count one is rape, and count two is murder. And the court sentenced him to life imprisonment for rape and for death for count two, which is murder. So, we thank God. It?s a great relief. We have seen the end of the case today?.

Bolanle stressed that, ?judgment has been served. There?s judgment for the deceased. Unfortunately, the victim is late, she?s dead, by the act of the defendant. But today, she got judgment. There is also judgment for the families of the deceased, and there is judgment for the state, because judgment is in three ways. So, the state, the victim, the family, even the defendant too.

?Judgment is served because he was convicted of offenses that he committed. So that is the beauty of the courts. When judgment is served, when there is justice for victim, then everybody is happy. 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 also got judgments.

?Let me add this. I must also commend the prosecutor, the legal officer, 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 for his doggedness.? (AriseNews TV)

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