The Ondo state high court in Akure has sentenced Dare Ojo, a commercial motorcyclist, to death by hanging over rape and murder of Zainab Adeyemo, an 11-year-old girl.
Yemi Fasanmi, the trial judge, convicted Ojo on a two-count charge bordering on rape and murder.
THE CRIMES
The motorcyclist was said to have committed the crimes on July 17, 2020, while conveying the deceased on his motorcycle to the market at Irun-Akoko, a town in Ondo state.
The mother of the deceased had told the court that he contacted Ojo, who is a popular okada rider in the town, to take her daughter from Ese-Akoko to the market at Irun-Akoko.
After some hours, the 11-year-old girl did not return from the market.
Worried by the development, the deceased’s mother reached out to a friend in the market, who said she did not see the girl in the market.
When Ojo was contacted, he said he dropped the girl at the market. Subsequently, the girl was later found dead and naked.
THE VERDICT
During the court proceedings, the police investigator said the motorcyclist took operatives to the scene of the crimes in a bush.
In his judgment, Fasanmi said the findings of the pathologist from Federal Medical Centre, Owo, who carried out tests on remains of the deceased substantiate the charges against Ojo.
The trial judge held that although there was no eyewitness account, the doctrine of the last seen implicated the motorcyclist.
The judge said Ojo was the last person who saw the deceased and there was no other person who saw her after he took her to the market.
Fasanmi sentenced Ojo to life imprisonment for rape and death by hanging for the murder of the deceased.
𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗧𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗔𝘀 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗗𝗿𝗼𝗽!
