A 20-year-old woman has recounted how a Nigerian man raped her after luring her into a wooded area in Wrexham, Wales, while pretending to accompany her home after a night out.
The woman, whose identity has been withheld, said the incident occurred on September 7, 2025, when Gift Oladele, 24, approached her as she walked home and claimed he was heading in the same direction.
Oladele offered to walk with her, but according to the victim, he led her towards an isolated area before grabbing her and forcing her into a wooded location.
She said the suspect covered her mouth and overpowered her when she attempted to resist.
“He was a lot bigger than I was. I tried pushing him away, but he overpowered me,” she said.
The victim recalled that she entered what she described as a survival mode during the assault after Oladele allegedly asked whether it was her first experience of rape.
She said she feared that resisting further could cost her life and decided to comply in order to survive and return home to her mother.
According to her, Oladele struck her six times on the head and left bruises on her body before fleeing the scene.
She also alleged that after the assault, he taunted her and threatened to locate her if she reported the incident. He allegedly further threatened to take photographs of her and publish them online.
Despite the threats, the woman reported the incident to her parents immediately after arriving home at about 3.30am. Her father subsequently contacted the police.
Oladele was arrested the following day at his cousin’s residence in Wrexham.
Police investigations reportedly uncovered a mobile phone that Oladele had attempted to conceal. The device contained searches linked to sexual attacks, according to the report.
Oladele was convicted at Mold Crown Court in March after denying the allegations and claiming that the sexual activity had been consensual.
He was subsequently sentenced at Caernarfon Crown Court in April to 17 years in prison, followed by an extended eight-year licence period, bringing the total sentence to 25 years.
The court also imposed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a restraining order protecting the victim for life.
At the time of the Wrexham attack, Oladele was reportedly on bail over another rape allegation in Manchester dating back to November 2024.
He had also previously been imprisoned in 2022 for a sexually motivated attack.
Oladele, a Nigerian citizen born in Italy, had earlier successfully challenged attempts by UK authorities to deport him to Nigeria.
Following his previous prison sentence, the authorities sought his removal from the United Kingdom, but he appealed on human rights grounds, arguing that deportation would interfere with his right to private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
An immigration tribunal ruled in his favour, holding that deportation would be disproportionate. Subsequent appeals by the Home Office were also unsuccessful.
Reacting to the case, the victim’s mother questioned why her daughter’s rights appeared to have received less consideration.
She said her daughter should have been able to return home safely after a night out without becoming a victim of sexual violence.
Wrexham Chief Inspector Caroline Mullen-Hurst described Oladele as a “dangerous predator” and commended the victim for finding the courage to report the attack.
She said Oladele showed no remorse and that the legal process had forced the victim to repeatedly relive the trauma of the assault.
The victim said the incident had continued to affect her physical and emotional well-being, adding that there were periods when she struggled to eat and experienced severe emotional distress.
“There were numerous times a day when I would be hysterically crying because I didn’t want to be here anymore,” she said.