Justice Abiola Soladoye of a Lagos Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, Ikeja, yesterday, sentenced a teacher, Bright Emenugo, to life imprisonment for sexual assault on a 15-year-old male student.
The state government had alleged that his offence contravened the provision of Section 261 of Lagos State Criminal Law, 2015.
In her judgment, Soladoye held that the defendant was guilty as charged by Lagos State government and ordered that Emenugo’s name be added to the Lagos State Sex Offenders’ Register.
Justice Soladoye held that the state proved its case beyond reasonable doubt against the defendant, adding that the survivor in his evidence told the court that the defendant asked him to go to the toilet and wait for him.
According to the judge, Emenugo’s conduct was immoral and callous, and a disgrace to the teaching profession.
She also admonished schools to speak up about abuse and report cases at the right quarters.
The survivor, who was 15 years old at the time he testified before the court, narrated that his teacher (defendant) pulled his pants down and penetrated his anus when he was 14 years.
His testimony was that, his teacher (the defendant), threatened him with a bad grade if he refused to go to the toilet. Although the survivor said he could not remember how many times, he testified that Emenugo molested him more than once.
During the trial, the doctor with Mirabel Centre told the court that he examined the victim’s anus and confirmed there were signs of consistent penetration.
In his defence, the defendant claimed that he was arrested without knowing the reason.
Emenugo, whose statement was tendered and admitted as evidence, also said he was coerced, beaten and asked to tell the truth.
But Justice Soladoye held that his did not hold up during cross-examination, noting that he was “untruthful and contradictory.”
The judge held the testimony of the survivor to be truthful even during cross-examination, as well as the evidence of the survivor’s aunt, who is the second prosecution witness.
