Appeal Court Upholds School Supervisor’s 60-year Rape Sentence

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Appeal Court Upholds School Supervisor’s 60-year Rape Sentence

An appellate court sitting in Lagos has upheld the 60-year sentence of a former supervisor of Chrisland School, Adegboyega Adenekan, who was convicted of defiling a two-year and-11-month-old pupil, (name withheld) of the school.

Justice Sybil Nwaka had, on October 24, 2019, convicted Adenekan after finding him guilty of defilement filed against him by the state government.

Dissatisfied with the judgement, Adenekan’s counsel, Mr Olatunde Adejuyigbe (SAN), proceeded to the appellate court to challenge the decision of the lower court.

Delivering judgement Monday, the three-man panel, led by Justice Mohammad Garba, dismissed the appeal for lack of merit.
Justice Nwaka had, in a judgement, held that the convict (Adenekan) abused the trust of children in his care as well as the trust of their parents.

“This defendant is conscienceless, wicked, an animal and is not fit to walk the streets. I hereby sentence Adegboyega Adenekan to 60 years in prison. This is the sentence of the court.”

The convict was arraigned before the Lagos Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja on January 29, 2018 and had pleaded not guilty to a charge of defilement.

The prosecution had told the court that the convict committed the offence sometime in November 2016 at Chrisland School, VGC, Lagos. According to the prosecution, his offence contravenes Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

However, during the trial at the high court, prosecution called seven witnesses, including the pupil and her mother, to testify. The pupil, who was four years old when she testified on March 22, 2018, had narrated to the court how Adenekan had defiled her.

She said “that the convict put his mouth in her wee-wee, the first time he did that, he took her out of the class, the second time, she ran.

“I tried to report to my teacher but my teacher did not believe me. So, I reported to my mummy. First time he did it was inside his office which has a toilet. The second time he did it was in the hall, which was outside. I did not like what he did. He put his hand in my wee-wee, he put his wee-wee in my wee-wee and he put his mouth in my wee-wee,” the pupil narrated.