A 56-year-old driver, Folarin Raufu, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping his employer’s five-year-old granddaughter.

The judge of the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, Abiola Soladoye, handed down the sentence on Monday after finding the convict guilty of defilement.

Mr Raufu had been arraigned on 30 November 2021 on a one-count charge of defilement, and he pleaded not guilty.

According to the prosecution, the offence contravenes Section 137 of the criminal law of Lagos State 2015.

The judge held that the prosecution led by Abimbola Abolade successfully proved the three ingredients of defilement – that the child was underage, that the defendant had sexual intercourse with the minor and that the child’s consent was immaterial.

The victim’s testimony was well corroborated by the mother and grandfather before it was reported to the authorities,” she said.

“The defence, in its written address, urged the court to discharge the defendant as there was no evidence against him.

“The conduct of the defendant is nasty, devoid of character, reckless, and his ‘own way’ of saying thank you to his employer was to defile his granddaughter.”

The trial

During the trial, the prosecution called four witnesses, including the survivor and tendered two documents while the defendant testified as the sole witness for himself.

The survivor, who was five years old at the time of defilement, testified in court on 5 August 2022 about how the convict raped her.

She said that her grandfather’s driver had sex with her several times in her grandfather’s living room and in the SUV on the premises and that she had lost count of the number of times he raped her.

She testified that on one of the occasions, she was playing with her friend when the driver asked the friend to leave, and he inserted his penis in her ‘bombom’ (vagina).

She said the driver threatened her not to tell anybody but that she later told her grandfather.

During cross-examination, the survivor told the court that the driver takes her to school and drops her grandfather at work.

In his testimony, the grandfather, identified simply as Oyenuga, told the court how he found out.

“My granddaughter later came to my room to whisper in my ears. She said, ‘Grandpa, I have something to tell you,’ and she told me to bring my ears closer,” he narrated.

“She whispered that the defendant cuddled her to his chest, kissed her, brought out his penis and inserted it into her vagina.

“I confronted the defendant the following day and asked him if he wanted to marry a new wife, is it my granddaughter that he intends to marry?

“He replied that he only kissed her. I discussed the issue with my daughters, and we decided to report the case to the Ikeja Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency.

“My granddaughter revealed more details to the agency that interviewed her and made drawings to describe the defendant’s position and her while in the car.”

Judgement

The judge described the convict as a “pathological liar” who tried to discharge himself from the charge as he claimed not to understand the English language but responded as the court registrar read the charge in English.

“The defendant denied having sexual intercourse with the victim but told the court he only planted kisses on her cheeks and cuddled her,” the judge said.

“Under cross-examination, he denied making any statement at Ojodu Police Station, but the same statement was tendered and admitted in evidence as exhibit B.

“He told the court he did not understand English, but when the registrar was reading out the charge, he was already replying.

“He lied to the face of the court.”

The judge urged parents and guardians against entrusting their children to the care of “good for nothing staff”, so they were not sexually violated.

“The need for supervision at all times cannot be over-emphasised in this age and time where sexual abuse is being perpetrated.

“Furthermore, children should be trained to speak up and report any such sexual violations against such persons to their parents, teachers or authorities so that they can be properly investigated.”