The Ekiti High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, on Monday, March 3, 2025, sentenced a 47-year-old pastor, Adeleye Akingbaso, to life imprisonment for raping a 13-year-old girl in the state.
Akingbaso was first arraigned in September 2022 before Justice Blessing Ajileye on a two-count charge of rape and coercion.
Delivering judgement, Justice Ajileye said: “This court has found the defendant guilty on the two count charge of rape and coercion and convicted him accordingly.”
The judge said this would serve as deterent to others in the class of the convict who have not been caught up with by nemesis.
“On count one (rape), the defendant is sentenced to life imprisonment and on count two (coercion), the defendant is sentenced to three years imprisonment, both terms are to run concurrently,” Justice Ajileye declared.
During trial, the prosecution counsel, Taiwo Ajibulu, told the court that the pastor committed the offences in Ado-Ekiti in July 2022.
Ajibulu said the pastor raped the 13-year-old girl (name withheld) and also coerced the victim to engage in sexual acts to the detriment of her physical and psychological well-being.
According to him, the offences contravened Section 31(2) of the Child’s Rights Law, Cap. C7, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012 and Section 4 of the Ekiti State Gender-Based Violence (Prohibition) Law, No.18 of 2019.
In her testimony before the court, the girl said: “Prophet Adeleye was my mother’s man-friend. He comes and sleep in our house often, but on a particular day, my mummy was on night duty, Prophet Adeleye came to sleep in our house.
“He woke me up midnight and said I bedwet, I said no. He brought out a bottle of sheabutter and rubbed it on my virgina, that was all I knew.
“I later discovered I had been raped that night, he threatened me that he will curse me and I will die if I tell anybody.
“On the second day, my mother was not at home and he came to our house again.
“I was in the kitchen; he told me he wanted to complete what he started yesterday. He was trying to rough-handled me, but I managed to run out and shouted for help and our neighbours came to my rescue.
“They called my mother and narrated what happened to her. She slapped the prophet when she came and later reported the case at the police station.”
