23-yr-old guard docked for allegedly raping minor in Ondo

By Boye Oyeyemi

A 23-year-old security guard, Emmanuel Usman, has been remanded at the Olokuta Correctional Centre in Akure after an Ondo State Magistrate’s Court charged him with the alleged rape and defilement of a teenage girl.

The defendant appeared before Magistrate Temitope Alphonso at the Oke-Eda Magistrate’s Court on a two-count charge bordering on rape and unlawful carnal knowledge of a minor.

The Police prosecutor, Inspector Folasade Akande, told the court that Usman committed the alleged offence on March 29, 2026, at around 11:30 a.m. at No. 55, Asewa Street, Ijebu-Owo, in Ondo State.

The prosecution alleged that the defendant had non-consensual sexual intercourse with the 14-year-old victim, whose identity was withheld in line with established legal practice for minors.

Akande stated in the first count, “That you, Emmanuel Usman, on March 29, 2026, did rape a 14-year-old girl, whose name is withheld, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 3 (A and B) of the Ondo State Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2021.”

In the second count, the defendant faces a defilement charge for allegedly having carnal knowledge of the minor, an offence punishable under Section 221 of the Criminal Code, Cap 37, Vol. 1, Laws of Ondo State, 2006.

Usman’s plea was not taken owing to the gravity of the offences, as the prosecutor filed a remand application urging the court to keep him in custody pending advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Magistrate Alphonso granted the remand application, ordering that the defendant be held at the Olokuta Correctional Centre until the DPP’s advice is received, adjourning the case to July 9, 2026, for mention.