A Nigerian teacher who defiled a 14-year-old pupil, resulting in a pregnancy and childbirth, will now spend the rest of his life in prison for the crime.
According to correcting.com, the Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court in Lagos handed down the sentence to Joseph Ibanga on Monday, June 6, 2022.
The court presided over by Justice Abiola Soladoye found the teacher guilty of the charges proffered against him.
The prosecution team reportedly presented three witnesses at the trial, but Ibanga presented none and spoke for himself.
Defilement is reported to be a punishable offence under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, and life imprisonment is the punishment for perpetrators if found guilty.
Ibanga committed the offence between January and March 2019 at No.12, Iresi Street, Orile-Agege, Lagos, reports say.
The convict was a home teacher employed to teach the victim, who was living with her aunt. He, however, forced himself on the underage victim, and defiled her.
Justice Soladoye said evidence the prosecution made available to his court proved that Ibanga was guilty of the offence as charged.
Aside from the life sentence, the judge also ordered that the convict’s name be entered into the register of sexual offenders.
“The survivor was a minor and her consent is immaterial. The evidence before the court showed that the defendant had s*x with the victim in her home and in the defendant’s own matrimonial home. She subsequently became pregnant and had a baby.
“The medical report corroborated the evidence against the defendant. The defendant is responsible for the act and there is evidence before the court to prove same.
“The survivor identified the defendant as her lesson teacher and the person who had s#xual intercourse with her without her consent.
“The defendant is very ungrateful and wicked, ravished the student with impunity and taught her nonsense. Ibanga has brought ridicule to the teaching profession and this punishment will serve as a lesson to him and warning to others.
“The defendant is hereby found guilty as charged based on the avalanche of evidence against him, and he is sentenced to life imprisonment,” the judge ruled as quoted by correcting.com.
