A 33-year-old man, Oluwatuyi Bidemi has been sentenced to 84 years imprisonment by an Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti for robbery, attempted murder of one Abiodun Agnes.
Oluwatuyi was arraigned before a court presided over by Justice Adeniyi Familoni on 21 July, 2021 on four-count charge bordering on attempted murder, robbery, kidnapping and rape.
The offences contravened Sections 320, 402 (1) of the Criminal Code Law, Cap.C16, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012, Section 2 of the Gender-Based Violence (Prohibition) Law, No 18 of 2019 and Section 3 of Ekiti State Kidnap and Terrorism (Prohibition) Law, No. 12 of 2015.
The charge reads: “That the convict on 7th July, 2021 at Omuo Ekiti within the jurisdiction of this honourable court did attempt to murder one Abiodun Agnes, also rob her of phone, charger, wristwatch, ATM cards and others, on same date and place did kidnap and rape the victim.”
In her evidence before her court, Abiodun, a civil servant recounted, “I was going to the office through a bush path around 8am, other residents were also passing the bush path. Suddenly, somebody held my neck from behind, I could barely breath when he dragged me into the bush. He tied and inserted a handkerchief into my mouth, he collected my wrist watch, phone, charger, ATM Cards etc,
“He held my neck again and I became unconscious, when I gained consciousness, I discovered he had raped me while my armpit and private part hairs had been shaved.
“At this point, he had left. I saw some people passing but I could not shout due to the cloth inserted in my mouth. I later crawled out where some passersby rescued and took me to the hospital. I was in the bush from 8am to 2pm. When I described the defendant, some people knew him through his identity and he was later arrested by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC) in Omuo-Ekiti.”
The prosecutor, Oluwaseun Olasanmi called four witnesses and tendered defendant’s statements, medical report among others as exhibits.to prove her case.
The defendant spoke in his own defence through his lawyer, Charles Ayobioloja and called no witness, but prayed the court to temper justice with mercy.
In his ruling, Justice Familoni held that the prosecution had proven the offences of attempted murder, robbery, kidnapping and rape against the defendant beyond reasonable doubts.
The court resolved the sole issue for determination in favour of the prosecution and accordingly convicted Oluwatuyi on all the counts as charged.
Oluwatuyi is subsequently sentenced to 21 years imprisonment on each of the four counts without option of fine.
The sentences were to run concurrently, effective from the date of arrest and detention of the defendant.