The Edo State High Court sitting in the Auchi area of the state has sentenced a man, Taofeek Isah, to death by hanging for rape.
Also convicted alongside Isah are two others identified as Jeremiah Okamudu and Miracle Pius, who were sent to different jail terms.
However, the court discharged and acquitted one of the defendants, Godwin Adeyemi.
The convicts were brought before the court on five counts of rape, kidnapping, attack with a harmful substance, inflicting physical injury, and unlawful trial by ordeal.
In his judgment on Thursday, the presiding judge, Justice Philip Imoedemhe, sentenced Isah (1st defendant) to death; Okamudu (2nd defendant) to four years’ imprisonment; Pius (4th defendant) to 19 years.
The judge ruled that the prosecutor tendered concrete evidences before the court which is beyond reasonable doubt that the 1st, 2nd and 4th defendants were guilty of the charges, while also ordering that Isah be hanged to death while the other convicts be taken to the Auchi Custodial Centre to serve their jail terms.
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The lead prosecutor from the Edo State Ministry of Justice, Clement Eseigbe, had during the trial submitted that Isah connived with three of his friends to kidnap, gang-rape and grievously assault a 20-year-old girl, Blessing.
The prosecutor said the defendants committed the offences on October 22, 2021, at Okpella community in the Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State.
“The defendants did rub pepper in the private parts of Blessing and inflicted physical injuries on her by beating her with a cutlass, wood and other dangerous objects,” the prosecutor added.
In a similar case, the court sentenced a 61-year-old man, Taiwo Buoro, to 10 years’ imprisonment for raping a 12-year-old girl.
Imoedemhe in his judgment sentenced Buoro without a fine option.
Buoro, a farmer, committed the offence on September 19, 2021, at Ososo in the Akoko-Edo LGA of Edo State.
Representatives of a non-governmental organization, BraveHeart Initiative for Youth and Women, expressed joy at the judgment.