A trader, Adelaja Oloyede, has been sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment by Justice Abiola Soladoye of the Lagos State Special Offences Court for raping a seamstress in the Ikorodu area of the state.

Oloyede was arraigned on April 10, 2019, on one count of rape by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

The prosecution counsel, Olusola Soneye, had told the court that apart from raping the victim, the convict coerced her into inserting some fetish objects in her private parts.

He said, “The victim, who was a virgin before the incident, pleaded with him during the incident, but her plea fell on deaf ears. He overpowered her, tore her underwear and raped her.

“As a result of the rape, the victim took ill and was treated in Kwara State.”

During trial, the prosecutor presented four witnesses – the victim, her sister, the investigating police officer and a medical doctor – and also tendered the victim’s blood-stained underwear and a black tie as exhibits.

The victim had told the court that she was on her way to church when the incident happened.

She said, “I was on my way to church on the day of the incident; Oloyede shook my hands and thereafter I followed him to his house, where he led me into a room, where there were numerous fetish items. He asked me to kneel and he recited several incantations before raping me.”

Justice Soladoye, who noted that the prosecution had proved its case against Oloyede beyond all reasonable doubt, found the 43-year-old trader guilty of rape contrary to Section 260 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

She sentenced Oloyede to 25 years’ imprisonment and ordered that he should be registered as a sex offender in the Lagos State Sex Offenders’ Register.