Court Remands Civil Defence Officer over Rape Allegation

An Ekiti State Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has granted an ex-parte application brought before it to remand one 37-year-old Olukayode Adebayo in the Nigerian Correctional Centre, Ado Ekiti.

In her ruling, Magistrate Mojisola Salau said, remanding the defendant will allow the police to complete their investigation while the prosecutor, Inspector Sadiq Adeniyi, duplicates the case file and sends it to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Legal advice.

According to the charge, Olukayode, an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, attached to Ekiti State Command, was reasonably suspected to have committed an offence of rape on a 13-year-old girl at Peace Avenue, Afao Road, Ado Ekiti on December 25, 2021.

In her statement to the police, the victim said that on Christmas Day, she went to their shop on the instruction of her mother to get some bananas and kola nuts for her. On her way back, the defendant, who was on a motorcycle, met her on the road and asked to assist her home, to which she agreed.

On their way, he took her to an uncompleted building, and had canal knowledge of her, and left. Her cry attracted passers-by who took her home. She told her mother what happened to her, and later the incident was reported at the Police Station.

The offence runs contrary to and is punishable under Section 31 of the Child Right Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

The case has been adjourned to Tuesday, February 10, 2022, for mention.