A 20-year-old woman has recounted the terrifying experience of being dragged into a woodland and raped by Nigerian national Gift Oladele after he allegedly avoided deportation on human rights grounds.
Oladele, 24, targeted the woman, who was 19 at the time, as she walked home along an isolated footpath in Wrexham, Wales, following a night out on September 7, 2025.
According to the victim, Oladele offered to accompany her after claiming he was heading in the same direction. However, when they reached an isolated area, he allegedly grabbed her over the mouth and forced her into nearby woods, where he raped her.
After the attack, she said Oladele told her: “I think you’ve had enough now. At least you have been raped by someone good-looking.”
The woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous, said she feared for her life during the assault and went into what she described as “survival mode.”
“He was a lot bigger than I was. I tried pushing him away, but he overpowered me,” she said, adding that he covered her mouth and struck her several times.
She said Oladele also asked whether it was her first time being raped and threatened to find her if she reported the incident. He allegedly further threatened to take photographs of her and share them online.
Despite the threats, the woman immediately informed her parents after returning home around 3:30 a.m., prompting her father to contact the police.
She recalled: “I came in screaming, saying ‘mum,’ and then I walked into their room and said, ‘You need to ring the police.’”
Police arrived shortly afterwards, and Oladele was arrested the following day at his cousin’s home in Wrexham. Officers reportedly discovered that he had attempted to conceal a mobile phone, which allegedly contained searches relating to sexual attacks.
Oladele was later convicted of rape and sexual assault following a trial at Mold Crown Court in March. He had denied the allegations and claimed the victim had consented.
At Caernarfon Crown Court on April 30, he was sentenced to a total of 25 years, comprising 17 years in prison and an extended eight-year licence period.
He was also handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a restraining order protecting the victim for life.
The woman said the assault had a devastating impact on her mental and physical wellbeing, describing September as “the hardest month of her life.” She said she struggled to eat and experienced periods of severe emotional distress, eventually receiving treatment at an accident and emergency department.
The case also revealed that Oladele was already on bail over another rape allegation in Manchester dating back to November 2024. He had previously been jailed in 2022 for a sexually motivated attack.
Oladele, a Nigerian citizen born in Italy, entered the UK legally but later remained in the country unlawfully. Following his previous prison sentence, he faced deportation to Nigeria but successfully challenged the decision on human rights grounds.
He argued that his removal would breach his rights to private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
An immigration tribunal later ruled in his favour, finding that deportation would be disproportionate. The tribunal acknowledged the seriousness of his previous offence and the public interest in deporting foreign criminals but concluded that his established private life in the UK and the difficulties he would face relocating to Nigeria outweighed the case for deportation.
The Home Office subsequently made two appeals, both of which were rejected.
The victim’s mother questioned the decision, asking why her daughter’s rights had not received the same consideration.
“Where are my daughter’s rights? That’s what I want to know. She has the right to walk home after a night out without being raped,” she said.
Wrexham Chief Inspector Caroline Mullen-Hurst described Oladele as a “dangerous predator” and praised the victim for her courage in reporting the attack and giving evidence during the trial.
She said Oladele showed no remorse and that the trial had required the victim to relive the traumatic experience.
A Home Office spokesperson described the case as horrific and said the lengthy sentence was appropriate, adding that the government would continue to seek the deportation of foreign criminals at the earliest opportunity.
