Ondo Court Delivers Verdict in Child Abduction and R@pe Case

A recent judgement was handed down by the Odigbo Magistrate’s Court in Ondo State, sentencing a 31-year-old man, identified as Clement Odey, to a four-year prison term. This sentence came after Odey pleaded guilty to charges of abducting and r@ping a 15-year-old girl. According to the court proceedings, the offences took place on June 22, 2026, in Ayeleso Village, near Ore, within the Ore Magisterial District. It was revealed that Odey had deceptively lured the minor with promises of taking her to Abuja to visit her uncle, but instead, he abducted her without her father's consent, Edwin Onoh, and took her to Ibadan, Oyo State. The prosecution, led by Inspector James Usifo, stated that Odey then took the teenager to a bush in Ibadan, where he forcefully had unlawful carnal knowledge of her. The Magistrate, Festus Akinlolu, in his judgement, sentenced Odey to two years' imprisonment on the first count and another two years on the second count, with both sentences to run concurrently. The charges brought against Odey contravene Sections 360 and 361 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 37, Vol. I, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006. The guilty plea by the defendant meant that the prosecution did not need to present additional evidence or call witnesses to prove the case.