A 24-year-old Nigerian national, Gift Oladele, dragged a young woman into woodland and violently raped her has been jailed for 17 years after a judge described his actions as “truly depraved”.

Gift Oladele carried out the attack in Wrexham, North Wales, in September last year after approaching the victim, who was 19 at the time, as she walked home from a night out.

Oladele was convicted of rape and sexual assault at Mold Crown Court in March. He was sentenced on Thursday.

How the Attack Happened

The court heard that Oladele approached the woman and her friends outside a takeaway in Wrexham city centre. He initially appeared friendly and flirtatious before offering to walk home with her.

According to prosecutor James Coutts, Oladele accompanied the woman until they reached an isolated area, where he grabbed her by the mouth and forced her into the woods.

He then carried out a violent rape.

“She described being terrified,” Coutts told the court. “She did what she thought she needed to do to get through the attack.”

Oladele threatened to find and harm the victim if she reported the rape. He also threatened to take photographs of her and post them online.

Despite the threats, the woman returned home and immediately told her parents, who contacted the police.

Oladele was arrested the following day at his cousin’s home in Wrexham. Officers said he had attempted to hide a mobile phone, which contained searches relating to sexual attacks.

The court heard that Oladele had a “fascination in forced sexual abuse and rape” and that he appeared to be acting out a fantasy shown in the videos he had searched for.

Victim Describes Lasting Trauma

In a victim impact statement, the woman told the court that she continued to wake up from nightmares in which Oladele had tracked her down.

“I’m petrified,” she said.

She also described taking medication to prevent HIV infection after the assault and suffering long-term emotional and psychological effects.

“I feel ashamed, and somehow damaged, since what he did to me,” she said.

“The emotional impact has been very significant.

“I can’t go anywhere on my own anymore.

“I feel unsafe.”

Judge Simon Mills praised the woman for her courage during and after the attack.

“You showed exceptional courage during the incident and afterwards,” he told her.

Previous Conviction and Deportation Appeal

At the time of the Wrexham attack, Oladele was already on bail over another rape allegation in Manchester dating from November 2024.

He had also been jailed in 2022 for a sexually motivated attack.

The court heard that Oladele was later due to be deported to Nigeria but successfully challenged the decision on human rights grounds.

An immigration tribunal judge described the deportation case as “finely balanced”, acknowledging the seriousness of Oladele’s previous offence and the public interest in deporting foreign criminals.

However, the tribunal also considered his ties to the United Kingdom, where he had grown up, and the consequences of relocating to Nigeria.

The Home Office made two attempts to appeal the decision, but both appeals were rejected.

Judge Calls Defendant Dangerous

During sentencing, The Judge described Oladele’s actions as “truly depraved”.

“You subjected her to a terrible violation,” he said.

“You are a dangerous offender.”

The judge said Oladele posed an exceptionally high risk of harm to young women and had shown “absolutely no remorse whatsoever”.

The Home Office described the case as horrific and said Oladele’s imprisonment was the right outcome.

The victim’s account has highlighted not only the brutality of the attack but also the lasting fear and emotional damage that sexual violence can cause long after the offender has been convicted.

More than 1,000 migrants attempting to reach Spain’s Canary Islands have been rescued from the Atlantic Ocean after seven boats reportedly broke down during the dangerous journey from West Africa.

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UN Adopts New World Map Showing Africa Bigger, US Smaller in Landmark 2026 Vote

The United Nations General Assembly has approved a historic resolution encouraging countries to adopt a new world map that more accurately reflects the true size of continents — a move that makes Africa appear significantly larger while shrinking North America and Europe. The United States was the only nation to vote against it.

On September 4, 2026, the UN General Assembly passed the resolution with 164 votes in favour, 6 abstentions, and just one opposed — the United States. The six countries that abstained were Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Serbia, Lithuania, and Estonia. The resolution, spearheaded by the West African nation of Togo and backed by the African Union, encourages governments, schools, and technology companies to phase out the centuries-old Mercator projection in favour of the Equal Earth projection developed in 2018. Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey, who presented the resolution, declared: “A fair world begins with a fair map.”

The resolution seeks to correct a distortion that has shaped global perceptions for over 450 years. The Mercator projection was created in 1569 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator specifically for maritime navigation. While it preserves accurate angles and directions, it severely distorts land area proportions: regions near the poles appear much larger than they actually are, while equatorial regions appear smaller. The most glaring example of this distortion is the comparison between Africa and Greenland. On a standard Mercator map, the two landmasses appear roughly the same size. In reality, Africa is 14 times larger than Greenland — Africa covers about 30.3 million square kilometres, while Greenland covers just 2.1 million. Advocacy groups point out that Africa could contain the United States, China, India, Japan, Mexico, and most of Europe within its area and still have space left.

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The Equal Earth projection, developed by cartographers Bojan Savric, Bernhard Jenny, and Tom Patterson in 2018, preserves the relative surface areas of continents while maintaining recognisable shapes. Under this new projection, Africa appears in its true massive scale — dramatically larger than in the familiar Mercator map. North America and Europe, by contrast, appear noticeably smaller. “Equal Earth preserves the relative surface areas of continents and, as much as possible, shows their shapes as they appear on a globe,” cartographer Bojan Savric told AFP in 2025. “Correcting the map means restoring to continents in the minds of people the reality of the true dimensions,” said Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey. He stressed that the campaign is “not directed against any nation, region, or civilization” but serves a “universal goal: to promote knowledge based on scientific rigour, respect for truth, and the equal dignity of peoples.”

American representatives dismissed the resolution as a distraction from pressing global issues. Speaking before the vote, US representative Yaryna Ferencevych argued that “such resolutions and the ideological agenda they promote hinder the work of this institution and lead to a decline in its credibility.” She urged member states to reject the text and focus instead on “genuine issues of international peace, prosperity, or good relations between nations.” Despite the US objection, the resolution passed overwhelmingly. It carries no legal force and does not mandate the replacement of existing maps — rather, it encourages institutions to educate the public on the limitations of flat maps and to adopt more accurate representations. The resolution “in no way challenges the use of the Mercator projection for maritime and aerial navigation, for which it remains fully suited,” the Togolese ministry said in a statement.

African leaders hailed the vote as a significant victory for continental representation. The African Union Mission to the UN welcomed the resolution as a “significant step towards ensuring that the map of the world reflects Africa’s true scale and place in the world.” Togo’s Dussey announced that Togo would become the first country to replace its geography textbooks with the new maps by the end of 2026, and the nation plans to engage with African Union members and other supporters to promote adoption globally. France, a co-sponsor of the resolution, expressed strong support. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in a speech at the Sorbonne: “Changing the map obviously won’t change the world… but correcting a distorted representation is itself an act of truth.” The advocacy group “Unfiltered Africa,” which promotes the Equal Earth map, welcomed the UN decision, stating: “We hope to see accurate maps in schools, textbooks, newsrooms, businesses, and the digital platforms used by billions of people every day.”

UN Adopts New World Map Showing Africa Bigger, US Smaller in Landmark 2026 Vote