A former teacher has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja for defiling an eight year old pupil.
The convict, Nwatu Isaac, was sentenced on Tuesday by Justice Rahman Oshodi after the court found him guilty of defiling a pupil of El-Bossaa Nursery and Primary School, Epe.
The court heard that the offence was committed on March 10, 2022 inside the male toilet of the school. The prosecution told the court that Isaac, who had previously taught the child and later conveyed pupils on his motorcycle, asked her to pick a piece of paper from the toilet, pushed her inside, locked the door and had unlawful sexual intercourse with her.
The girl, who was nine when she testified, told the court that she knew the convict as Master Isaac and that he threatened to kill her if she told anyone. She said she bled after the act and that he cleaned the blood before letting her go.
Her mother told the court she discovered blood on her daughter’s underwear and private part when the child returned from school and that her uniform was stained. The matter was reported and the child was later examined at the Mirabel Centre.
Medical evidence presented by Dr Olatunji Olubukola Elizabeth showed findings consistent with penile penetration, which the court held corroborated the child’s account despite the examination being conducted more than two months after the incident.
Isaac denied the charge and claimed he only remained at the school gate on that day to pick pupils with his motorcycle and never entered the premises.
Justice Oshodi rejected his defence and held that the prosecution proved the case beyond reasonable doubt. The judge noted that the convict’s own admission placed him at the school at the material time while the victim clearly identified him as the person who took her into the toilet. He also held that the alibi could not stand because the convict did not claim to be elsewhere.
The court found that the prosecution established the two ingredients of defilement under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015, which is that the victim was a child and that the defendant had sexual intercourse with her.
Justice Oshodi sentenced him to life imprisonment and ordered that his name be entered into the Lagos State Sex Offenders Register in line with the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency Law 2021.
The prosecution led by Inumidun Solarin called five witnesses including the survivor, her mother, police investigators and the medical doctor.
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