Justice Rahman Oshodi of a Lagos Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a 61-year-old teacher, Igwe Ngozi, to 14 years imprisonment for sexual assault of a seven-year-old child.
The judge sentenced and convicted Ngozi after finding him guilty as he pleaded to an amended one-count charge brought against him by the state government.
The charge bordered on sexual assault by penetration.
The prosecution alleged that the defendant, on or about February 2019 at Linsey Nursery and Primary School at Igbo-Efon Alpha Beach Road, Lekki, Lagos, attempted to assault a seven-year-old girl by penetrating her vagina with his finger.
His offence is contrary to the provision of Section 262 C.17, Vol. 3 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
However, Ngozi was initially charged with one count of sexual assault by penetration, which is punishable by life imprisonment, but approached the prosecution for a plea bargain.
He had pleaded not guilty to the charge when he was initially arraigned sometime in February 2019.
The victim’s mother (PW1) testified that the incident occurred one day when she observed that her daughter’s pants were messy and that she had been complaining of lower abdominal pain.
She told the court that her daughter said her class teacher had been inserting his finger into her vagina, and that each time he did that, she became scared and sometimes screamed.
The state counsel, S.O. Dada, informed the court on June 16, 2025, and filed on June 19, 2025, that Ngozi had agreed to a plea bargain agreement, which necessitated the amended charge of attempted sexual assault by penetration.
He was therefore re-arraigned on July 17, 2025, and he pleaded guilty.
While delivering judgment yesterday, Justice Oshodi held that he was satisfied that the convict was competent to enter the plea bargain agreement.
The judge held that, “The first charge is punishable by life imprisonment. However, through the plea bargain process, you have pleaded guilty to this lesser charge, and I am bound to sentence you according to the agreed terms.”
“As a class teacher, you were supposed to protect the child, but unfortunately abused a seven-year-old child, causing physiological trauma to the victim.”
“Igwe Ngozi, I have considered your breach of trust as a teacher and the trauma inflicted upon her; I find the maximum sentence appropriate.”
The court therefore found him guilty as charged and sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment. The court ordered that the sentence should begin from the date he was remanded in custody.
The judge also held that the convict should be registered as a sex offender in furtherance of Sections 33 and 38 of the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency Law of Lagos State 2021, and also serve his sentence in the place he has been held during his trial.
(Guardian)
