By John Odunayo
An Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division, on Tuesday sentenced two teachers to 44 years imprisonment for rape of two secondary school girls ages 15 and 17.
The court jailed each of the two teachers to 22 years comprising 20 years and two years on different counts which are to run concurrently.
The teachers were said to have committed the offences sometimes in 2019 in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.
The defendants Ajibola (43) and Olaofe (52) were arraigned on March 2, 2022 on three count charge bordering on rape and abuse of office.
In her testimony before the Court, one of the victims said, “Mr Ajibola was my computer teacher, he always disturbed me while in class. On that fateful day, he told me to be in mufty, he gave me N200 to go and wait for him in front of a filling station along Bank Road.
“He later came there alongside Mr Olaofe, before they came, one of my classmates also met me there, he told me Mr Olaofe asked her to wait here for him.
“When they came, we all left for a hotel, around Oke-Ila area of Ado Ekiti, on getting there, we were taken to different rooms where Mr Ajibola had sexual intercourse with me.
“After that day, he continued to disturb me, when I could no more bear it, I narrated what happened to my mother who later took the matter up”, she concluded.
The prosecutor, Adeyemi Kunle-Shina, called four witnesses and tendered statements of the victims and defendants, medical reports, report of the Panel of Enquiry among others as exhibits.
But the defendants, who spoke in their own defence through their lawyer, Lawrence Fasanmi and called six witnesses, describing the allegations as political, denied all the allegations levied against them and tendered exhibits to support their innocence.
But in the court judgement, Justice Adeniyi Familoni, who found the teachers guilty, said, “The defendants seared their minds and mulled the voice of the conscience as they took advantage of the victims with reckless abandon.
“They deserve severe panel sanction for their misdeeds to serve as a warning to others who may want to follow their footsteps.
“Therefore, Ajibola Gbenga is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in count one without option of fine, Olaofe Ayodele is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in count two without option of fine. The two defendants are sentenced to two years imprisonment each in count three, the terms are to run concurrently, Justice Familoni said.
