Man, 62, bags life jail for raping minor in Ekiti

An Ekiti State high court sitting in Ado-Ekiti has sentenced a 62-year-old man, Daudu Jimoh, alias Baba Cooler, to life imprisonment for raping a nine-year-old girl in Ilupeju Ekiti. Earlier, the prosecutor, Julius Ajibare, called four witnesses and tendered the defendant’s statements and medical report as exhibits, while the accused spoke through his counsel, Chris […]

An Ekiti State high court sitting in Ado-Ekiti has sentenced a 62-year-old man, Daudu Jimoh, alias Baba Cooler, to life imprisonment for raping a nine-year-old girl in Ilupeju Ekiti.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Julius Ajibare, called four witnesses and tendered the defendant’s statements and medical report as exhibits, while the accused spoke through his counsel, Chris Omokhafe, confessing that he committed the offence but denied penetrating the girl’s vagina.

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The charge reads in part: “That you, Daudu Jimoh, on 27/9/2019 at Ilupeju Ekiti did rape a nine-year-old girl contrary to Section 31(2) of the Child’s Rights Law, Cap C7, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

In her evidence before the court, the victim said that Baba Cooler, her landlord, had sex with her four times “before my sister caught us on that day.”

“That afternoon, he called me into his room and asked me to sit on the chair. He removed my pant and put his penis in my vagina. He was doing it when my sister caught us.

“Whenever he had sex with me, I was afraid to tell my mother because he warned me not to tell anybody or else I would die.”

Justice Lekan Ogunmoye held that the confessional statements of the defendant, both written and oral, showed without equivocation that he indeed committed the offence.

Justice Ogunmoye ruled that, “In all the prosecution has proven his case beyond reasonable doubt against the defendant as charged.

“The sole issue for determination is resolved in favour of the prosecution. He is convicted as charged. He is sentenced to life imprisonment.’’