Hairstylist bags 20 years in prison for rape

TRACKING____A 28-year-old hairstylist, Tayo Bakare, was yesterday sentenced to 20 years in prison by an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court for rape and kidnapping.

The convict had been accused of luring, kidnapping and raping a student on Industrial Training (IT) in one of the media houses in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Justice Abiola Soladoye had found Bakare guilty of four out of the charges of conspiracy, robbery, deprivation of liberty and rape proffered against him by the Lagos State government.

According to the prosecution, led by Arinola Momoh-Ayokanbi, Bakare had lured and raped the student (Miss A) and her friend (Miss B). The prosecutor alleged that Bakare had sometime in August 2017, lured Miss A to a hotel in Ikotun, Lagos by using Miss A’s friend, phone, which he had stolen.

“Unknown to Miss A, she was not chatting with her female friend but the convict. When she got to the hotel room, the convict came into the room and told her that her friend (Miss B) had set her up. He threatened her by saying that he was a member of the ‘Badoo’ cult.

“The convict beat her, raped her and stole her belongings, which included two mobile phones, ATM cards and N2,000. He locked her in the hotel room and left.

“Miss A went to the bathroom and alerted a passer-by who helped her to escape,’’ the prosecutor had told the court.

According to Momoh-Ayokanbi, the convict had also lured, kidnapped and raped Miss B and stolen her mobile phone, which was used to lure her friend Miss A to the hotel.

During the trial, the prosecution called two witnesses while Bakare testified solely in his defence.

One of the prosecution witnesses told the court that Miss A told her parents about her ordeal, who in turn alerted the police. She said Bakare was apprehended while he was trying to lure an undercover police officer to the same hotel.

Bakare, in his testimony, denied raping the two friends. He admitted having sexual intercourse with them because they were prostitutes. The prosecution said the offences contravened sections 260(1)(2), 272, 297(1) and 299 of the Criminal Law of Lagos 2015.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Soladoye discharged and acquitted the convict on four out of the eight-count charge. The judge dismissed the charges because Miss B did not come to court to testify about how she was allegedly robbed, kidnapped and raped by the defendant.

But the judge found Bakare guilty in respect of counts two, four, six and eight respectively.

“He shall serve 10-years in respect of count two (conspiracy to commit robbery), 10-years in respect of count four (robbery), 10-years in respect of count six (deprivation of liberty) and twenty-years in respect of count eight (rape).

However, these sentences are to run concurrently,’’ Soladoye said.