Court sentences teacher to life imprisonment for defiling two seven-year-olds

• Man jailed 12 months for romance scam using fake Instagram profile

You are “an irresponsible and randy teacher who teaches his students nonsense and should be locked away”.

These were the words of Justice Abiola Soladoye of a Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court yesterday after she found Benjamin Ogba, the headteacher of a school, guilty of defiling two seven-year-old pupils.

The judge, who convicted him and sentenced him to double life imprisonment, held that the prosecution had proved the charge of defilement beyond a reasonable doubt.

The state government had arraigned Ogba for the offence he committed sometime in April and on May 10, 2019, at Shalom Private School, Oke-Ira Road, Ebutte Metta, Lagos.

The prosecution said that the defendant defiled the two survivors by having unlawful sexual intercourse with them.

According to the prosecution, his offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.

While handing down the judgment, the judge said the convict was a serial paedophile, and his testimony was a pack of lies.

She noted that the defendant and his fellow defence witnesses were not truthful or credible in their testimonies.

Justice Soladoye praised the two survivors for their courage in speaking up in court against their assailant, adding that sexual abuse of any sort must be reported and not swept under the carpet.

She admonished parents to report sexual abuse cases to the appropriate authorities.

“Continuous education and awareness of this issue of sexual menace must be at the forefront for all stakeholders in the administration of justice to advocate for the rights of young children.

“The defendant, having been found guilty of the two counts of defilement, is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment on each count. The sentences will run concurrently, and his name will be registered in the sex offences register maintained by Lagos State.”

During the trial, the prosecution counsel, Olusola Soneye, called three witnesses, while the defence counsel called four witnesses and tendered various exhibits before the court.

Meanwhile, Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja convicted and sentenced Nonso Joseph Ekeocha to one year imprisonment yesterday for possessing fraudulent documents.

The judge held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) proved beyond a reasonable doubt the charge of possessing fraudulent documents, which Ekeocha used to perpetrate a romance scam.

The EFCC alleged that on June 27, in Lagos, the defendant had an Instagram profile account where he presented himself as Ronald Gregory and other documents for an online dating scam, which he knew or ought to have known to be false.

This offence contravenes Section 320 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.

He pleaded guilty to the charge.

Following his guilty plea, the prosecuting counsel, Ikhuoria Akhanolu, asked the court to review the facts of the case and called his witness.

The witness, Ismail Saifullahi, an EFCC operative, told the court that the defendant was arrested on June 29, 2024, with others engaged in computer-related fraud in Lagos.

He said that when the convict was arrested and brought to the EFCC office, an iPhone 12 Pro Max and a Samsung S10 phone were recovered from him.

The phones were analysed forensically, and the analysis revealed fraudulent documents.

He said the convict was involved in an online dating scam where he represented himself as an American citizen named Ronald Gregory.

He further told the court that the convict admitted to the EFCC that he usually carried out his fraudulent activities online by randomly sending love messages to members of the public and asking those interested in a relationship for financial assistance.

Akhanolu tendered Ekeocha’s extra-judicial statement and a bundle of fraudulent documents printed from his mobile device.

Justice Abike-Fadipe admitted these as exhibits and convicted him as charged. When asked to address the court, the convict pleaded for leniency, promising never to engage in internet fraud again.

Justice Abike-Fadipe sentenced him to one-year imprisonment or a fine of N500,000 and 50 hours of community service.

The court ordered that his iPhone 12 Pro Max and Samsung S10 phone be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.