Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court, presided over by Justice Abiola Soladoye, on Wednesday sentenced a 54-year-old pastor, Michael Oliseh, to life imprisonment for raping his friend’s 12-year-old twin daughters.
Oliseh, an assistant pastor in a Pentecostal church at Okota, Lagos State, Nigeria, raped the minors in turns, according to Punch.
It was said that the victims were defiled by the defendant during the period their father entrusted them in his care and travelled to the village for burial.
The defendant was charged with two counts bordering on defilement, contrary to Section 137 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
Prosecution called five witnesses to testify at the trial and five exhibits were tendered.
The prosecution counsel, Olufunke Adegoke, said Oliseh committed the crime in November 2017 in Ago, Okota, Lagos State.
She showed that “Oliseh threatened the survivors that their father would become jobless if they told anyone about the sexual assault.”
She further proved that Oliseh was caught by one of the neighbours in the compound after he chased and dragged one of the girls by her pants.
Delivering judgement, Justice Soladoye, who described Oliseh as a “serial rapist”, held that the prosecution convincingly proved the charges of defilement against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge said: “What a disloyal and untrustworthy pastor, who shamelessly and audaciously had sexual intercourse with his friend’s children who were entrusted in his care.
“The defendant is found guilty as charged and hereby sentenced to life imprisonment.
“The sentence should run concurrently and the defendant’s name should be entered in the Sex Offenders Register of the Lagos State Government.”
Justice Soladoye berated the parents of the survivors for sending them to stay with the convict.
She said: “Parents of the survivors lack discipline and ought not to have sent their children to stay in Oliseh’s house.
“Children are not to be entrusted with randy adults and should be kept in the hands of responsible adults who have their goodwill at heart.”