Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
IBADAN, Nigeria — Justice Mojisola I. Sule of the Oyo State High Court, Court 9, Ibadan, on Monday convicted and sentenced a man, Kolade Tosin, to death by hanging for the murder of 17‑year‑old Ifeoluwa Apanpa. The convict was also sentenced to life imprisonment on the second count of raping the teenager before killing her. The attack took place at the Olódó area of Ibadan on 17 September 2022.
The prosecution team, led by the Oyo State Attorney‑General, Abiodun Aikomo, called four witnesses to prove the case: the deceased’s father, ACP Arimiyau Apanpa (retd) as PW1; the deceased’s pastor, Olusegun Ajulo, as PW2; Corporal Ayoade Quadri of the Iyana‑Offa Divisional Headquarters as PW3; and ASP Segun Oladunjoye of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Iyaganku, Ibadan, as PW4. The accused, Kolade Tosin, was the sole defendant in the case.
In delivering the judgement, Justice Sule addressed the defendant’s claim that he had never given a statement to the police. She ruled that the police had taken his statement in full compliance with the law, in the presence of his parents, and that the statement was therefore admissible. “It is a settled principle of the law that a litigant will not be allowed to blow hot and cold at the same time,” she quoted. “I hold in agreement with the prosecution that the defendant’s denial of making a statement to the police later in his defence is an afterthought and cannot avail him.”
The judge also dismissed the defendant’s denial about his parents making statements, noting that although he was asked to call his parents to corroborate his testimony, he failed to do so. Justice Sule stated, “In the absence of this evidence, which is possible to create a doubt in the case of prosecution, which could have resulted in the favour of the defendant, I did not believe the defendant when he told this court that his mother did not make a statement to the police and that he was arrested by the police on his way from plumbing apprentice work.”
After reviewing the evidence, the judge declared that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. “The evidence is very compelling and leaves no room for acquittal. I hold that the prosecution has proved the ingredients of murder and rape beyond reasonable doubt. The prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant had sexual intercourse with the deceased, that the act was done without her consent, that she was not the wife of the defendant, that the defendant had the intention, and that there was penetration.”
The court also noted that the defendant himself had given a graphic account of his crime in his statement to the police, admitting that he had forced the teenager to have sex with him, thereby confirming that she did not give her consent. “The defendant gave a graphic detail of his crimes. He told the police that he forcefully had sexual intercourse with the deceased, thus signifying that she did not give her consent. The deceased was not the defendant’s wife, and there was evidence of penetration as the defendant stated in Exhibits G2.”
Justice Sule concluded, “In settled law, once a trial court is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt on the evidence offered by the prosecution that the accused committed the offence, a judge is entitled to find him guilty. Consequently, the issue of determination is hereby resolved in favour of the prosecution and against the defendant. I am thus satisfied, and I so hold, that in line with the provisions of Section 319 of the Criminal Code Law of Oyo State, you shall be hanged by the neck until you die. May the Lord have mercy on your soul.”
The sentencing has been hailed by women’s rights groups and child protection advocates in Oyo State, who described the judgement as a strong deterrent. While the convict has the right to appeal, the ruling stands as one of the most emphatic judicial responses to sexual violence in the state in recent years.
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