A motorcyclist known as Monday Olukunle, also referred to as Seaman, has been sentenced to a seven-year prison term by an Ikeja High Court for the abduction of a 16-year-old girl.
The abduction took place on September 30, 2022, at an uncompleted building located on Ralitu Daramola Street, Abogunleko, Ikotun in Lagos, where Olukunle, along with others who remain at large, allegedly committed the crime.
The prosecution counsel presented three witnesses and numerous documents, while the defendant solely defended himself.
In the judgment delivered by Justice Oyindamola Ogala, Olukunle was convicted of conspiracy and abduction, but was discharged of the charge of defilement. The court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the charge of defilement due to the absence of key witnesses in court.
The court based its decision on the confessional statement of the convict, leading to the guilty verdict for conspiracy and abduction.
"The alleged victim did not testify or identify the defendant," the judge said.
"It is instructive that neither the persons who arrested the defendant, the alleged friend nor the chairman of the estate testified in respect of the charge of def!lement linking the defendant with the direct act.
"These witnesses are vital in establishing the guilt of the defendant.
"This Honourable court, therefore, finds that the prosecution failed to satisfy that the defendant indeed defiled the said victim.”
The court further held that the evidence of prosecution witnesses two and three sufficiently corroborated the fact of the confession of the convict.
The court said the attempt to dissociate him from the entirety of the events of the incident was an afterthought which did not hold water.
The judge ordered that the convict's term should commence on September 30, 2022.
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