A security guard, Olawale Olarewaju, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court for engaging in sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old girl. Justice Rahman Oshodi expressed dismay over the Ikoyi Custodial Centre’s delays in bringing the defendant, held in prison custody for eight years, to court.
Highlighting the case’s history, Justice Oshodi mentioned that the matter was previously dismissed due to lack of diligent prosecution by Justice Sherifat Solebo (rtd) when the custodial centre failed to produce the defendant for arraignment between 2016 and 2019, despite a production warrant being issued.
He said:” The defendant was in Ikoyi Custodial Centre and remained there for about eight years from the day of his remand until he was produced before me on Jan. 3, 2023, for arraignment.
“The preceding demonstrates gaps in the operation of the Nigeria Correctional Service.”
In delivering the judgment, Oshodi affirmed that the prosecution successfully established the elements of defilement (with charge number LD/2359C/2016) against the defendant. The survivor, now 18 years old, testified that she was 13 at the time of the incident and identified the defendant as a security guard at a construction site. She recounted how he forcefully assaulted her while she was fetching water at the location.
Justice Oshodi emphasized that the survivor’s testimony was consistent and supported by her father, who acted as prosecution witness two. The judge found the defendant’s self-contradictory statements rendered his evidence unreliable and subsequently convicted him, sentencing him to life imprisonment.
