Francis Iwuchukwu 
A 41-year-old Art Teacher at Mind Builders School, Lagos, Chukwu Ndubuisi, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by Justice Sedoten Ogunsanya of a Lagos High Court in Ikeja for defiling a 6-year-old pupil of the school.
In her judgement, Justice Ogunsanya held that the facts, circumstances and quality of evidence against the defendant were compelling and that the prosecution has been able to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge noted that the first time the victim told her mother of her experience was when she was discussing the case of a seven-yearold girl that was defiled and killed which went viral, adding that the victim whispered to her mother that she wanted to discuss something with her.
Justice Ogunsanya further noted that they went outside, and the victim narrated her experience to her and pleaded with her mother not to tell her father and brother. The judge disclosed that the mother later told the father, following which they went to her school, but the art teacher was not around.
Justice Ogunsanya further posited that the parents reported the matter at Omole Police Station, following which the matter was investigated, and a test conducted on the victim at Ikosi Health Centre which revealed that she has been defiled.
The trial court further revealed that the matter was later taken up by the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA), even as it held that the account of the victim and that of her mother was uncontroverted and corroborated with each of them giving a good account of the assault. Justice Ogunsanya maintained that the defendant usually sends the victim’s friend to call her and that the first time the defendant defiled her was in the female toilet and that the second time was in the art room.
The judge further revealed that the victim told the court that sometimes her teacher (defendant) asked her to remove her uniform and put his “bumbum” into her “bumbum”.
“At another time he called her into the art room, he put her on the table, parted her panties and put his thing into her thing,” Justice Ogunsanya added. The judge stated further that the victim told the court that when the defendant is finished, he would clean her up with tissue paper. Justice Ogunsanya further noted that the defendant had unhindered access to the child and defiled her several times.
The judge also threw out the evidence Court gavel of two prosecution witnesses who are medical doctors for being contradictory, pointing out that they did not come as expert witnesses. Justice Ogunsanya equally dismissed the submission by defence witnesses that the incident was not recorded on the school’s CCTV. The judge upheld the result of the test conducted at Mirabel Centre which showed that the victim had torn hymen and reddish vulva and that there was evidence of forceful penetration.
Justice Ogunsanya consequently convicted the defendant as charged. Ndubuisi was first docked before an Ogudu Magistrates’ Court on a charge of forceful penetration, and he pleaded not guilty to the charge. The case was later transferred to the High Court following the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
At the High Court, Ndubuisi was charged with a count bordering on child defilement
