By ADENIKE AYODELE

An Ikeja Special Offences Court, on Monday, sentenced a 45-year-old pastor, Ndukwe Ogbu, to 25 years in prison for defiling his 14-year-old daughter (name withheld).

In her judgment, Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe, held that the prosecution had proven beyond reasonable doubt the three-count charge of defilement, sexual assault, and sexual assault by penetration against the convict.

The judge also noted that Ogbu showed no remorse for the crime, when he pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, citing that he had other children to care for.

She consequently found him guilty of the three-count charge brought against him by the Lagos State Government.

According to the judge, the testimonies of the medical doctor and social worker corroborated that of the survivor.

?Based on the evidence presented before the court, the defendant is found guilty on all three counts. He is sentenced to three years on count one.

?On counts two and three, he is sentenced to 25 years each.

?The sentences shall run concurrently and will be effective from December 2019, when he was remanded in custody,? the judge held.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the convict was arraigned sometime in February 2021 and the trial commenced on Oct. 18, 2021.

NAN also recalls that during trial, the prosecution called three witnesses and tendered exhibits, while the convict testified as the sole defence witness.

The first prosecution witness, Mr. Femi Oyeleke, a social worker, told the court that he reported the case to the police.

The survivor and a medical doctor also testified against the convict.

In her testimony, the survivor identified the convict as her father and told the court that she was 14 years old when the abuse began.

She told the court that her father had sexual intercourse with her on several occasions and threatened her not to tell anybody.

The survivor said she later confided in her teacher in school who reported the case to the social worker.

The defendant, however, denied all the claims and maintained that he was not at home as claimed by his daughter.

He confirmed to the court that he lived in the same apartment as the survivor, but she had her own separate room.

He also stated that he lost his wife when the children were young and the other children lived in the village with their maternal grandmother. (NAN)

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