A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has handed down a life imprisonment sentence to Nwatu Isaac, a former teacher at El-Bossaa Nursery and Primary School, Epe, for defiling an eight-year-old pupil. The judgment was delivered by Justice Rahman Oshodi, who found Isaac guilty of the offence committed on March 10, 2022. The prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, establishing that Isaac had unlawful sexual intercourse with the child.
Justice Oshodi ordered that Isaac's name be entered in the Sex Offenders Register, in accordance with the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency Law, 2021. The court also noted that Isaac's denial of going beyond the school gate on the day of the incident was inconsistent with his own evidence, which placed him at the scene. The victim had identified Isaac as "Master Isaac," who lured her into the toilet and sexually assaulted her.
The court found further corroboration in the testimony of the girl's mother, who noticed blood on her daughter's underwear and private parts after she returned from school. Medical evidence from the Mirabel Centre supported the prosecution's case, with a doctor reporting physical signs consistent with penetration. The judge dismissed the defence argument that the absence of DNA or sperm evidence weakened the case.
In a separate case, Justice Modupe Nicol-Clay convicted and sentenced Adakole Ogbodo to death for the murder of Bolaji, following a violent altercation over sachet water. The offence was committed on January 31, 2022, at 66B Mosley Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. The prosecution team, led by Dr Babajide Martins and Mrs Titilayo Olanrewaju-Daud, had arraigned Ogbodo for allegedly killing Bolaji with an iron object and a knife.
The prosecution called three witnesses, including a carpenter, Chigozie Paul, and two police officers, Inspector Damian Ogunye and Inspector Adeniyi Shola. Paul testified that he saw Ogbodo beating Bolaji with a scaffolding pipe during a fight that erupted after they disagreed over sachet water. Paul also stated that he later saw Bolaji's lifeless body on Mosley Road the following morning, with Ogbodo sitting nearby.
The defence argued that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, citing alleged contradictions in the witnesses' testimonies and the lack of an autopsy report establishing the cause of death. However, Justice Nicol-Clay rejected these arguments, holding that the absence of direct eyewitness evidence was not fatal where circumstantial evidence was cogent and compelling.
The judge found that Ogbodo was seen assaulting Bolaji and was later found near his body, forming a chain of evidence that pointed irresistibly to his guilt. Ogbodo was sentenced to death, as the offence carried a mandatory death penalty under Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. The defence plea for leniency was rejected, as the judge held that the law must take its course.
Key points
- The Lagos State High Court sentenced Nwatu Isaac to life imprisonment for defiling an eight-year-old pupil and Adakole Ogbodo to death for murdering a man over a dispute.
- The court found that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt in both cases, with sufficient evidence linking the defendants to the crimes.
- The sentences were handed down in accordance with the Lagos State laws, which prescribe life imprisonment for unlawful sexual intercourse with a child and death for murder.
