Priest sentenced to life in prison for raping minor in Ekiti

Justice O.I.O Ogunyemi of the Ekiti State High Court, Ado- Ekiti, on Thursday, sentenced a pastor with Winners Chapel Church, Omuo- Ekiti, Mr. Enoch Gbinyiam, to life imprisonment for raping a minor in his church.

Gbinyiam was arraigned on a one-count charge of rape by the state government.

The State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mr. Julius Ajiba, told the court that the defendant raped the daughter of a member of the church during her visit to the vicarage.

Ajiba described the victim as a regular visitor to the mission house.

According to him, the victim visited the vicarage to assist the pastor’s wife with house chores, teach and help his young children in their school assignments.

He said: “It was during one of her visits to the mission house that the defendant sedated a bottle of fanta and offered her to drink.

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“The minor took the Fanta and slept off only to wake up and found out that she was bleeding profusely from her vagina.

“The defendant was subsequently arrested and charged to court.

He said the offence contravened Section 2 of the Gender Based Violence (Prohibition) Law, 2019.

The DPP called four witnesses and tendered two exhibits to prove his case.

The defendant, who spoke through his counsel, Mr. Adeyinka Opaleke, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

He called one witness and tendered evidence in defence of himself.

The judge in his ruling held that the prosecutor proved his case beyond reasonable doubt.

He, therefore, convicted the defendant and sentenced him to life imprisonment in a correctional centre.

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