A soldier currently facing prosecution over the rape of an Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) student, Sunday Awolola on Friday told a magistrate’s court in Akure that he has psychiatric disorder.
Mr Awolola, a Lance Corporal, was recently dismissed by the Nigerian Army after internal investigations singled him out as the perpetrator of the dastardly act at a checkpoint close to the university late July.
EduCeleb.com reports that the suspect is being charged for having committed a rape which 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.
Through his counsel, Kayode Ikotun, he told the magistrate that the army transferred him to Akure from Maiduguri, Borno state capital, to take care of his health and family.
Ikotun pleaded that the suspect, whose wife recently put to bed, should be granted bail.
He had filed a counter-affidavit to an application by the prosecutor, Adeoye Adesegun, who had demanded that the suspect be remanded in prison for the police to gather more facts.
Mr Adesegun objected to the position of Ikotun and immediately told the court that it had no jurisdiction to hear the rape case.
Meanwhile, the magistrate, Mayowa Olanipekun ruled that the soldier should be remanded at the Olokuta Maximum Prison in Akure, pending legal advice from the ministry of justice.
Olanipekun also ordered that the original case file of the suspect should be duplicated in the office of Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the ministry.
The case was adjourned till 15th November, 2019.
Speaking to journalists after the hearing, Olubunmi Akinola, one of the victim’s counsels, said they would await the legal advice from the DPP.
“Once the legal advice is out and the suspect has a case to answer, he will definitely be tried at the high court sitting in the state. All that the complainant want is for justice to be done; for the case not to be swept under the rug,” Akinola said.
EduCeleb.com recalls that the soldier was He has since been dismissed from the service before the prosecution process began through the Nigeria Police.
