A Chief magistrate court in Akure has ordered that a Lance Corporal, Sunday Awolola who was dismissed by authorities of the Nigerian Army for the alleged rape of a 300-level student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) be remanded in prison custody.
The 33-year-old soldier appeared in court on Friday.
Awolola who was attached to the 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure allegedly raped a female student from the Department of Religious and African Studies of the institution, (AAUA) at a military checkpoint in Ikare-Akoko, the headquarters of the Akoko North-East Local Government Area of Ondo State, on July 31, 2019.
The crime, according to the prosecutor, Inspector Adeoye Adesegun is contrary to section 357 and punishable under section 358 of the the criminal code cap 37 vol. Laws of the Ondo state of Nigeria
Inspector Adeoye had prayed before the court that the defendant be remanded in prison custody, a motion which was countered by the Defense Counsel, Kayode Ikotun who filed an affidavit that the court has no jurisdiction to hear the case.
The defendant’s counsel while addressing the court prayed that the accused person should be granted bail due to his health challenge, which he said led to his redeployment from Borno State to Ondo State two months ago.
He also argued that the defendant’s wife is a nursing mother of a two-month-old baby.
With the plea of the Defense Counsel not granted, the court presided over by Magistrate Mayomi Olanipekun consequently ordered the remand of Awolola in prison custody pending the outcome of advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecution, (DPP).
The case was subsequently adjourned to November 15, 2019.
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