UK Court Jails Two Nigerians for 21 Years for Raping Teenage Schoolgirl

LONDON — Two Nigerian men have been jailed for a total of 21 years after being convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl who was plied with alcohol and drugs at a flat in south London, according to Opinion Nigeria.

Akinsanya, 34, was sentenced to 10 years for rape, while Raji, 29, received 11 years for two counts of rape and one count of taking an indecent image of a child. The attack occurred on February 8 last year after the pair met the victim at Paddy’s Yard pub in Brixton and invited her and friends back to Raji’s flat.

Inner London Crown Court heard that after the girl collapsed, the defendants subjected her to a prolonged ordeal, with Raji filming the assault.

In her victim impact statement read to the court, the girl, now in Year 11, described the lasting trauma. “I find it hard to trust people,” she said, adding that her school life remained affected. She called her attackers “disgusting” and declined to watch footage of the assault, saying she found it “too stressful.”

Prosecutor Diana Wilson told the court the girl was “young and naive and vulnerable and unconscious,” and has since become isolated, unable to leave her home or attend counselling.

Defense lawyers cited Raji’s previous good character and claimed he believed the girls were over 18, while Akinsanya was described as “a lost soul” who is partially paralyzed. Judge David Richards dismissed these arguments, noting it should have been obvious from their behavior that the girls were schoolchildren.

Sentencing, Judge Richards said the victim “will live with this for the rest of her life.” He told the offenders: “Alcohol was used to render her vulnerable, the effect of the alcohol was exploited by both of you. Whilst incapable, she was raped by both of you.”