Court jails painter for life over rape of 20-year-old woman

The Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, Ikeja, on Tuesday, sentenced a painter, Sikiru Oluwasegun, to life imprisonment for raping a 20-year-old woman.

The Court, presided over by Justice Rahman Oshodi arrived at the jail term after finding the painter guilty of having sexual intercourse with the survivor (name withheld), without her consent on July 19, 2021, at 3:45 am in the Ikorodu area of the state.

Justice Oshodi specifically slammed the jail term on the convicted painter after resolving the issue for determination in favour of the prosecution, who tendered the defendant’s confessional statement as evidence.

The judge found Oluwasegun’s confessional statement given to the police in which the defendant admitted to raping the survivor to “meet the criteria of the Supreme Court and is direct, positive and unequivocal” in establishing that he committed the offence.

According to Justice Oshodi, “The defendant in his confessional statement admitted to making his way into the room of the prosecutrix (name withheld) and raped her because he liked her, but he could not tell her as she was new to the compound.”

The trial judge held that the defendant is a painter who lived in the same building as the survivor who is a student of the Lagos State Polytechnic, now known as Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH), Ikorodu.

Justice Oshodi declared that the survivor reported the incident to the Students’ Union of the LASUSTECH on the next day, and they got the police to arrest the defendant.

In adding that the defendant wrote a voluntary statement admitting to the offence in front of the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) who also visited the scene of the incident, Justice Oshodi maintained that the defendant attempted to recant his admission of the offence during trial by saying he was robbed on the day of the offence and that the police beat him and forced him to sign the statement which he did not write.

“I do not believe the defendant when he said he was forced to sign the confessional statement.

“Aside from the confessional statement, the evidence shows the defendant had the opportunity to commit the offence,” the judge added.

Justice Oshodi convicted Oluwasegun of rape contrary to Section 260 of the Criminal Law, Laws of Lagos State 2015.

The judge had asked the convict if he had anything to say before his sentencing.

Responding, the convicted painter prayed to the judge to have mercy on him.

However, the counsel for the Lagos State Government, Inumidun Solarin, prayed to the court to sentence the defendant in accordance with the law and to order that his name be registered in the Lagos State sex offenders register.

The LASG lawyer told the court to consider that the convict was not remorseful of what he did to the survivor.

She said, “The effect of the action of the defendant would be long-lasting on the prosecutrix.”

However, upon calling on the defence lawyer for his allocutus, he said he had nothing to add.

In his judgment, Justice Oshodi declared that “Your actions show a callous disregard for the victim’s fundamental human rights.

“I have considered the factors applied in your confessional statement that you were attracted to the victim but could not express your interest correctly because she was a new tenant.

“Being attracted to someone does not give you the right to force yourself on them. There is no justification for rape.”