An Akure High Court on Friday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for having sex with his teenage niece and her friends.
The convict, Kolawole Apoti who was dragged before Justice Olutoyin Akeredolu was said to have lured other teenage girls to his house with the aid of his niece who is also a minor.
It was gathered that after forcefully and repeatedly having sex with the minors, Kolawola always gives them N100 afterwards and as well threatened them.
Kolawole was said to have been having illicit sex with his niece for a while before she started luring her friends to him.
All the victims are students of St Michael Catholic High School, Akure.
Kolawole’s escapades with the minors became known when the girls fought over the money he gave to one of them and the principal got wind of what had been going on.
One of the victims in her statement during the trial said, “The man struggled with me to remove my pant. He slept on me and penetrated into my private part. Something like water came out which he used red cloth to clean up. Thereafter, the man gave me N100 and warned me not to tell my parent otherwise I would die.
“I forgot a pair of my sock in his room. when I went back for it, he slept with me again.”
The prosecution led by Bunmi Koyenikan who called four witnesses including the Vice-Principal, Admin of St. Michael Catholic High School, Mrs. Ayibiowu Caroline Oluwatomisin, in the course of the trial, said the girls were scared of informing their parents said because of fear of the death threat by the convict.
Kolawole who denied the allegation of unlawful sexual acts informed the court that the girls consented to have sex with him after which he gave them money.
With the court stating that the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant raped the girls who are minors, the trial judge, Justice Olutoyin Akeredolu, found him guilty as charged and subsequently sentenced him to life imprisonment.
