Two students of Adeyemi College of Education Ondo have been sentenced to life imprisonment For raping some of their colleagues during an initiation rite into a cult group,
Ibijole Oludayo a.k.a Malawi, and Otuyemi Tosin and are to spend the rest of the lives in jail, while their third accomplice, Ogundeji Festus is to spend 7 years behind the bars.
An Ondo state High Court sitting in Akure and presided over by the chief judge, Oluwatoyin Akeredolu gave the sentence after the trio were docked on charges of rape and cultism.
One of the victims, Omolola (surname withheld) told the court that on the day she was raped, she was forcefully taken away by her assailants from the school premises on a motorcycle while one of them threatened to kill her if she raised any alarm.
Another victim, Abigail (surname withheld) , who admitted to have been a girlfriend to one of rapist Ogundeji Festus, said that though she cried for mercy, the accused were not moved by her pleas.
She said they brought out charms and told her that she had been initiated into their cult which she identified as “Eye”.
Having no lawyer to defend them, the court gave the defendants opportunity to speak for themselves and also cross examined the victims.
The three men also pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them.
The presiding judge, Justice Akeredolu convicted the accused based on the victims’ testimony, medical evidence of one Dr. Johnson from the school’s health center and report of police investigations.
Following their conviction, Akeredolu sentenced the first and the second accused person to life imprisonment and the third person to seven years imprisonment.
source. Nigeriacablenewsonline.com
