NEWS
Pastor jailed for defiling, impregnating girl in Akure
An Akure-based pastor, Famakinwa Ajayi, has been sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for defiling and impregnating a 16-year-old girl.
The pastor, who is affiliated with the Christian Association of Nigeria in Ayede Ogbese, Akure North council, was charged to court on a two-count charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child and sexual abuse and exploitation.
The Ondo State High Court found him guilty of Count 1 and subsequently sentenced him to 18 years in jail.
According to the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions for the Ondo State Ministry of Justice, Mrs Helen Falowo, the victim’s family were tenants to the defendant, where he frequently defiled and had carnal knowledge of the victim.
Ajayi was also accused of raping the victim at the market square under the pretense of rescuing her from demonic spirits.
Falowo stated that the defendant continued his act unabashedly until the victim became pregnant in October 2021 and later gave birth to a son for the defendant.
The Ayede Ogbese Women Vanguard and Olori Olufunmilayo Nejo-Oluyede, a renowned women/human’s rights activist and wife of the monarch, took in the victim and sponsored her education after being briefed about the incident.
“He continued this dastardly act unabashedly until the innocent minor became pregnant in October 2021,” Falowo said. The victim later gave birth to a son for the defendant.
The defendant, however, confessed to having slept with the victim once in his living room before being charged in court.
Justice Yemi Fasanmi acquitted the defendant on Count 2, but he was found guilty on Count 1 and sentenced to 18 years imprisonment.
The state government of Ondo filed the lawsuit with case number AK/195C/2021 on behalf of the victim.