Kemisola Oye
AN Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court earlier today (Monday 10th July 2023) sentenced a 56-year-old driver, Folarin Raufu to life imprisonment for defiling his employer’s granddaughter, aged 5 years.
Justice Abiola Soladoye held that the prosecution successfully proved all the ingredients of defilement against Raufu.
Soladoye said that the conduct of the convict was nasty, devoid of character as his own way of saying ‘thank you’ to his employer was to defile his granddaughter.
According to her, the survivor brilliantly presented the sequence of the incident of how the convict recklessly had canal knowledge of her.
She said: “The survivor was lucid and unshaken during her cross-examination as she spoke eloquently and intelligently detailing the gory incident of how her grandfather’s driver ruthlessly defiled her whenever no one was at home.
“The survivor recognized the defendant as Mr Folarin who had sexual intercourse with her both in the living room and inside her grandfather’s SUV, as he put his penis inside her ‘bum bum.
“The survivor said the defendant was brutal with her and that he had sex with her in the SUV when there was no light in the house.
“The grandfather, who was the prosecution witness two (PW2), in his testimony, said that his grand-daughter whispered in his ears that the defendant defiled her which necessitated his arrest,”
Justice Soladoye further said that the defendant’s attempt at an alibi was a colossal waste of time as he was a pathological liar.
According to her, the convict was a pathological liar who tried to deter himself from the charge as he claimed not to understand the English language but he responded as the registrar of the court read out the charge in the English language.
“The defendant denied having sexual intercourse with the survivor but told the court he only planted kisses on her cheeks and cuddled her.
“Under cross-examination, he denied making any statement at Ojodu Police Station but the same statement was tendered and admitted in evidence as exhibit B.
“He told the court he did not understand English language but when the registrar was reading the charge, he was already replying.
“He lied to the face of the court,” she said.
The judge held that the evidence of the survivor was corroborated by the medical report from Mirabel Medical Centre as well as the testimonies of the other two prosecution witnesses.
She added that there was a piece of overwhelming evidence before the court in support of the charge against the convict.
“The defendant is an ingrate who should be named and shamed as a disloyal, unreliable and untrustworthy employer.
“The court finds you, Folarin Raufu, guilty of the offence as charged and hereby sentenced you to life imprisonment.
“The convict should have his name registered in the sexual offenders register as maintained by Lagos State,” the judge said.
Justice Soladoye called on parents and guardians to desist from entrusting their children to the care of “good-for-nothing staffers” in order not to be sexually violated.
“The need for supervision at all times can not be over-emphasized in this age and time where sexual abuse is being perpetrated.
“Furthermore, children should be trained to speak out and report any such sexual violations against their person to their parents, teachers or authorities so that they can be properly investigated,” she said.
Counsel to the Lagos State government, Ms. Abimbola Abolade presented four witnesses against the defendant and tendered two documents while the defendant testified as sole witness during the trial.
According to the prosecution, the offence violated Section 137 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State,
Eighteen-Eleven Media