Court hands down 21 years jail to Arabic teacher, chastises him for breaking public trust in him
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
An Arabic teacher, Oladosu Sakiru, has been sentenced by the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court to 21 years imprisonment for attempting to sexually assault a 13-year-old female pupil.
Judge Rahman Oshodi sentenced him following his guilty plea to the amended two counts of attempted sexual assault by penetration and indecent treatment of a child.
Oshodi reprimanded him for breaching the trust parents have in him to enrol their children in the Islamic school.
The Judge held that the evidence before the court deduced a pattern of predatory behaviour as Sakiru subjected the victim to inappropriate touching and forced himself on her.
When the convict was confronted with his action, he sought refuge in the often-repeated phrase, “It was the work of the devil,” the court noted.
Oshodi held that religious leaders and teachers such as Sakiru hold a sacred place in society and when they break the trust placed in them by preying on children, the court must respond with appropriate severity to reflect society’s condemnation and deter others from committing similar acts.
“As an imam and an Arabic school teacher, you occupy a position of significant trust, that trust extended not only to the 13-year-old child, the one you victimised but also to her parents and the entire community who look to you for spiritual and moral guidance.
“You betrayed this trust in the most deplorable manner.”
The court sentenced Sakiru to 14 years imprisonment on count one and seven years on count two.
Oshodi held that the jail terms should run consecutively and that the convict’s name be registered in the Lagos State Sexual Offences Register.
Defence counsel Nelson Onyejaka, in his allocutus, implored the court to temper justice with mercy.
Onjejaka told the court that the convict was a first-time offender and he has two wives to take care of.
He implored to the court to show leniency in sentencing his client.
However, prosecution counsel Bukola Okeowo asked the court to sentence Sakiru accordingly.
Okeowo told the court that the convict committed the offences between February and March 2022, on Odusanmi Street, Mushin, Lagos.
The convict had pleaded not guilty when he was initially arraigned on 17 March 2023.
The prosecution called two witnesses (the victim and her father) through whom compelling evidence was provided.
Then the prosecution announced in court on 6 September 2024 that Sakiru had opted for a plea bargain which necessitated the amended charge.
The offences violate Sections 135 and 262 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015, the prosecution explained.
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