The son of a Nigerian diplomat in China has received a life jail sentence in the United Kingdom after he was found guilty of raping and murdering a £1,800 -a-night high-class escort.
26- year- old Bala Chinda was convicted by a high court in Aberdeen, Scotland, for the murder of Jessica McGraa on February 11,2016, only a few weeks after he arrived in Scotland to study at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.
After a six- hour consideration of the evidence before them, a jury of eight women and seven men on Friday unanimously found Chinda guilty of murdering Miss McGraa, also a Nigerian, in the city centre flat.
Judge Lord Beckett told the jury they had gone about their duties commendably after listening to evidence they may have found ‘very distressing’.
Chinda, he said, had ended the life of a woman described by friends giving evidence as ‘full of fun’ and who had much left to live for.
Chinda was told he must serve a minimum of 18 years.
CCTV footage showed McGraa, 37, had gone to Chinda’s student accommodation in the city’s King Street with him in a taxi before they returned to her apartment a short time later.
She made her last call on her mobile phone a few minutes before surveillance cameras recorded Chinda, 26, walking down the street away from her flat.
Her partially clothed body was found the following day in the bedroom of a flat she had rented in the city’s Union Terrace.
Chinda who changed his phone number after McGraa’s death wept uncontrollably after he was found guilty by the jury.
The court heard that Miss McGraa died of asphyxiation and was probably smothered with a pillow and possibly strangled with her scarf.
Miss McGraa moved to the UK from Nigeria 11 years ago after meeting an English oil worker, Gareth McGraa, who had been working in a Nigerian complex.
They married and had a son but later split.
Tag: rape
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Son of Nigerian diplomat jailed for killing prostitute in UK
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Pastor remanded for alleged rape
For allegedly defiling a five-year-old girl, a pastor, Gabriel Asateru, was yesterday remanded in prison custody by an Ado-Ekiti Magistrates’ Court.
Police prosecutor Insp. Bayo Ajiboye told the court Asateru, 53, committed the offence on December 23 at Ifisin-Ekiti in Ido/Osi Local Government.
Ajiboye said the accused, on that date, unlawfully defiled a five-year-old girl by petting her to sit on his lap.
According to him, the offence contravened Section 31 of the Child Right Laws of Ekiti State.
The prosecutor added that he had sent the case file to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.
The plea of the accused was not taken as his counsel, Tunde Olayemi, sought a date of adjournment, pending the outcome from DPP.
The Magistrate, Mrs. Modupe Afeniforo, who frowned at incessant rape cases in the state, ordered the accused remanded in prison custody.
She adjourned till February 15 for further hearing.
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Man remanded for ‘rape’
A 25-year-old man, David Adeoti, was yesterday remanded in prison custody by an Ado-Ekiti Magistrates’ Court for the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl.
Police prosecutor Inspector Bayo Ajiboye told the court the accused committed the offence on October 12.
He alleged that the accused unlawfully raped a secondary school pupil and impregnated her.
According to him, the girl was sent on an errand by her grandmother but the accused lured her with a gift inside his shop and cleverly removed her cloth.
He said he had carnal knowledge of her, saying after a month, she missed her period which made her grandmother raise an alarm.
The police prosecutor said the offence contravened Section 31 of the Child Right Laws of Ekiti State.
He said he duplicated his case file to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.
The Magistrate, Mrs. Modupe Afeniforo, who frowned at the high rate of rape in the society, ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody pending advice from DPP.
She adjourned the case till January 15. -
Wrongly executed man acquitted by court
Nie Shubin, who was executed 21 years ago for rape and murder, had his conviction overturned by China’s top court on Friday.
The second circuit court under the Supreme People’s Court revoked the verdict.
Nie was convicted of raping and murdering a woman in Hebei provincial capital, Shijiazhuang in 1995 and executed the same year at the age of 21.
The case re-emerged in 2005 when another man, Wang Shujin, admitted guilt in the case and said Nie was innocent.
In December 2014, the SPC assigned the higher court of Shandong Province to review the case and the latter found there were too many questions about the previous trials to uphold the conviction.
However, the SPC decided to retry the case in June 2016.
The retrial panel of the second SPC circuit court reviewed all documents on the case, visited the crime scene, verified evidence and questioned former personnel who had handled the case.
It also heard opinions from the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, which insisted that the evidence presented in the original trial was insufficient.
The SPC finally announced Nie was innocent on Friday.
It ruled that the evidence was lacking, the time of the crime and tools used to commit the crime could not be confirmed and the victim’s time and cause of death could not be confirmed.
It noted several key documents, including some records of the questioning of Nie and witnesses had been lost and the truth and legitimacy of Nie’s confession were questionable.
“The evidence used to convict Nie was not accurate and sufficient and did not meet the requirements for a conviction,’’ it said. (Xinhua/NAN)
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Police arrest two for rape
The police in Ogun State have arrested two men for allegedly raping a 23-year-old hawker.
According to police spokesman Abimbola Oyeyemi, Ezekiel Yusuf (29) and Musa Abubakar (25) lured their victim into Yusuf’s house under the guise of buying pawpaw.
He said: “Her shouts attracted people who came to her rescue and later reported the matter to the police. The suspects were subsequently arrested.”
“The Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu has directed that the case be transferred to Anti-human Trafficking and Child Labour Unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for investigation and prosecution.”
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Rape, abuse in IDPs camps inexcusable, says Saraki
Senate President Bukola Saraki has said the increasing cases of rape, abuse, diversion of supplies and corruption in Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs’) camps are inexcusable.
In a statement yesterday by his media office, Saraki pledged the cooperation of the Senate in ensuring the quick passage of bills to help address the plight of IDPs.
He spoke when the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), led by Mrs. Angele Dikongue-Atangana, visited him at the National Assembly, Abuja.
His words: “It is disheartening and heartless when you hear of corruption in the supply of food items, when you see malnutrition and mortality in IDPs’ camps.
“When you see malnourished children and you know there can be speedy recovery when the necessary drugs and nutritional items are provided with the necessary food items.”
Saraki pledged the readiness of the National Assembly to cooperate with the commission in addressing challenges facing the IDPs, adding that the Senate would work with the House of Representatives to pass legislation to enhance the welfare of IDPs.
He assured the visitors of the Senate’s resolve to facilitate the domestication of the Kampala Convention on Statelessness and Protection of Refugees.
Mrs. Dikongue-Atangana recounted efforts of the UNHCR to rally support for the domestication of the Kampala convention in the troubled regions within the country.
She added that the UNHCR is planning a workshop for lawmakers on their role in internal displacement.
According to her, the workshop will focus on creating awareness among members regarding international standards on IDPs’ protection.
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Police arrest Peace Corps officer over alleged rape
The Osun Police Command said it had arrested a member of the Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN), Mr Imran Olalekan, 24, for alleged rape.
SP Folasade Odoro, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command, disclosed this to newsmen on Thursday in Osogbo.
Odoro said that the suspect committed the offense at St. Charles High School, Osogbo.
She said that the 17-year-old victim (names withheld), is an SSS III student of the school.
She said preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect had intercourse with the victim.
The PPRO said that the suspect would be charged to court as soon as investigation into the crime was concluded.
Narrating her ordeal to newsmen, the victim said the accused, after raping her inside one of the offices allocated to PCN, warned her not to tell anyone, else, she would die.
“On the sad day, I was in school very early with my friend when Olalekan made sign that one of us should come.
“Initially, I did not know I was the one he was calling but he later pointed at me and I went to him.
“I wore a shirt on my school uniform and because of that he threatened to punish me.
“I immediately knelt down and started begging him.
“He then pushed me inside the office and because it was still early, no student was near the office.
“He asked me if I was a virgin or I owned a cell phone, and I answered no.
“Despite pleading with him to let me go, he pulled my skirt and blocked my mouth with his hands and raped me.
“When he finished, he warned that if I tell anyone, I would die,’’ she said.
Olalekan, who initially denied the allegation, later admitted committing the act, “but not with force”.
“I slept with her but it was not forcefully. I did it with her consent,’’ he said.
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Father of five bags 10 years for rape
Justice Atinuke Ipaye of an Ikeja High Court yesterday sentenced a man, Tajudeen Soneye, to 10 years imprisonment for raping an eight-year-old girl.
The convict, popularly called ‘Baba Seriki,’ is married with one wife and five children.
The police arrested Soneye on June 15, 2013 at Iyora Primary School, Badejoko Street, Ketu for raping his victim.
Lagos State government had arraigned Soneye on a one-count charge offence bordering on rape.
The convict had pleaded not guilty.
State prosecutor Mr Akin George, had told the court during trial that lasted three years, that the convict had sent the victim to go and buy cigarettes for him.
George said when she came back with the cigarettes, the convict lured her into his room and forcefully removed her cloth and raped her.
He said Soneye, after raping his victim, threatened to harm her if she tells any one.
The victim in her testimony had told the court that it was not the first time the convict did such terrible act to her.
The prosecution further corroborating the claims of the victim that she did not speak out not until she resumed school the following the day of the incident when a teacher noticed the way she was walking.
George said the school authority took her to hospital where she was confirmed to have been raped.
“It was the school that raised the alarm which led to the arrest of the convict”, he said.
In her judgment, Justice Ipaye found the convict guilty.
She held that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced Sonye to 10 years imprisonment.
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Boy, 19, held for alleged rape of minor
The police in Ogun State have arrested a 19-year-old boy, Felix Gbadebo, for allegedly defiling a minor.
Gbadebo was arrested by operatives of the Sango Division after the 10-year-old victim’s father reported the matter.
It was gathered the suspect called the girl to his 7 Alani Akintoye Railway line, Ijoko, residence under the guise of sending her on an errand.
But on getting to his apartment, Gbadebo allegedly overpowered the girl and used a pillow to cover her mouth.
After sexually abusing her, the minor was said to have reported the incident to her father, who called the police.
Confirming the arrest, the command’s spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi said the case was transferred to the Anti-human Trafficking and Child Labour Unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID).
“The Police Commissioner, Ahmed Iliyasu, appeals to parents to be mindful of their children in order to prevent them from becoming victims in the hands of people with devillish intention,” said Oyeyemi.
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Police arraign businessman for raping minor
A 40-year-old businessman, Cosmos Ajibo, who allegedly raped a 10-year-old girl, was on Monday charged before a Magistrates’ Court sitting in Kano.
The prosecutor, Insp. Junaidu Aminu, told the court that one Barira Isyaku reported the case to Takai Police Division on Jan. 19.
Aminu said that the accused committed the offence on Jan. 19, at about 5.00p.m in Unguwar Tsamiya Quarters, Takai Local Government.
He said that the accused had dragged the girl to his room when she went to buy biscuit from his shop and “forcefully had unlawful sexual intercourse with the victim, which caused her harm.”
The offence is punishable under Section 283 of the Penal Code.
Ajibo, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge of rape, and his counsel, Mr Casmir Agbueze, applied to the court for bail.
Senior Magistrate Kabiru Abubakar, granted the accused bail in the sum of N300, 000 with one surety in like sum.
He said both the accused and surety shall deposit two recent passport photographs with the court.
The case was adjourned to Oct. 20, for mention.