The Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced Nwatu Isaac, a former teacher, to life imprisonment for defiling an eight-year-old pupil in the toilet of El-Bossaa Nursery and Primary School, Epe. Justice Rahman Oshodi delivered the judgment on Tuesday, finding Isaac guilty of defiling the girl on March 10, 2022. The court also ordered that Isaac's name be entered in the Sex Offenders Register in accordance with Sections 33 and 38 of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency Law 2021.
Isaac was prosecuted under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, which prescribes life imprisonment for anyone who has unlawful sexual intercourse with a child. The judge held that the prosecution had proved the offence beyond reasonable doubt, establishing that the victim was a child and that the convict had sexual intercourse with her. Isaac had claimed he went to the school to pick up pupils he conveyed on his motorcycle but remained at the gate, but the judge rejected his denial.
The judge rejected Isaac's defence of alibi, noting that he did not claim to have been somewhere else when the offence occurred. The convict's own evidence placed him at the school at the material time, while the victim identified him as the person who took her into the toilet. The court found the testimony of the victim, who was nine when she testified, credible and consistent, giving a "clear, detailed and coherent account" of how Isaac took her into the school toilet and sexually assaulted her.
The court also found corroboration in the evidence of the girl's mother, who testified that she saw blood on her daughter's underwear and vagina shortly after she returned home from school. A medical doctor who examined the girl at the Mirabel Centre found an easily dilatable introitus, an absent hymen and marked laxity of the anal sphincter, with the vaginal findings consistent with penile penetration. The judge relied on this medical evidence to corroborate the evidence of penetration.
The judge rejected several defence arguments, including the claim that the absence of DNA or sperm testing weakened the prosecution's case. He also dismissed the defence claim that the child could have been sexually abused by her stepsister, describing the suggestion as speculation. An audio recording tendered by the defence, in which a teacher claimed the child later said the incident was a dream, was also rejected.
The court rejected a survey report tendered by the defence to suggest that the school toilet was too small for the alleged offence to have occurred there, as the survey was conducted more than three years after the incident. The judge also noted that defence witnesses gave conflicting evidence about the number of toilets in the school. The court further rejected the defence's claim that the prosecution was motivated by tribal sentiment because Isaac is Igbo.
During sentencing, Justice Oshodi said Isaac had abused the trust placed in him by the child and her family. The judge noted that Isaac was once the girl's teacher and that parents in the community also entrusted their children to him for transportation on his motorcycle. The court consequently sentenced Isaac to life imprisonment and directed the prosecution to take immediate steps to secure protection and support for the victim and her family.
Key points
- The Lagos State High Court sentenced Nwatu Isaac to life imprisonment for defiling an eight-year-old pupil.
- The court ordered Isaac's name to be entered in the Sex Offenders Register.
- The judge rejected several defence arguments, including claims of alibi and tribal motivation.
