Ex-Teacher Jailed for Life Over School Toilet Assault

A Lagos High Court has sentenced a former primary school teacher and motorcycle rider, Nwatu Isaac, to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of defiling an eight-year-old pupil in the toilet of El-Bossaa Nursery and Primary School in Epe.

Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State High Court (Special Offences/Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court) sitting in Ikeja delivered the judgment on Tuesday. He held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Isaac had unlawful sexual intercourse with the child on 10 March 2022.

The convict was charged under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, which carries a mandatory life sentence for anyone who has sexual intercourse with a child. The court also ordered that Isaac’s name be entered in the Lagos State Sex Offenders Register in line with Sections 33 and 38 of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency Law 2021.

Isaac, who had earlier taught the girl when she was in Primary 3 and later operated a motorcycle conveying pupils to and from the school, denied the charge. He claimed he only came to the school gate that day to pick up children and never entered the premises. The judge rejected the defence of alibi, noting that Isaac’s own evidence placed him at the school gate at the material time while the victim’s testimony placed him inside the premises.
According to the prosecution, led by Inumidun Solarin (with B.E. Okeowo and I.E. Balogun), the girl — who was nine years old when she testified — gave a clear, detailed and consistent account.

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She told the court that the man she knew as “Master Isaac” sent her to the male toilet to fetch a piece of paper. Once inside, he pushed her in, locked the door, slapped her and sexually assaulted her. She said he threatened to kill her if she told anyone and wiped blood from her before allowing her to leave.

Justice Oshodi described the child’s evidence as credible and coherent. He noted that she identified Isaac in court and maintained her account under lengthy cross-examination. The testimony was corroborated by her mother, who said she noticed blood on her daughter’s underwear and private parts shortly after the girl returned from school. A medical doctor from the Mirabel Centre who examined the child found an easily dilatable introitus, an absent hymen and marked laxity of the anal sphincter. The vaginal findings were consistent with penile penetration.

The judge dismissed several defence arguments. He rejected the claim that the absence of DNA or sperm evidence weakened the case, holding that the medical findings sufficiently corroborated penetration.

Suggestions that the child might have been abused by a stepsister were described as pure speculation. An audio recording in which a teacher claimed the girl later said the incident was a dream was also discounted; the judge noted that the teacher had initially responded dismissively when the child affirmed the allegation and then questioned her until she recanted, rendering the later statement unreliable.

A survey report tendered by the defence to argue that the toilet was too small for the offence was rejected because it was conducted more than three years after the incident, during the pendency of the case and at the instance of the convict. Defence witnesses also gave conflicting accounts about the number of toilets in the school, and the surveyor could not confirm he measured the same toilet referred to in the charge.

Isaac’s claim that the prosecution was motivated by tribal sentiment because he is Igbo was likewise dismissed. The court found no evidence of prior hostility between him and the victim’s family; on the contrary, the girl’s mother had once given him a gift after he taught her daughter.

In convicting Isaac, Justice Oshodi held: “Therefore, I find that on 10 March 2022, in the male toilet of El-Bossaa Nursery and Primary School, the convict had sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix by penetrating her vagina with his penis. The second ingredient has been proved beyond reasonable doubt.”

During sentencing, the judge emphasised the grave breach of trust. Isaac had been the child’s teacher and was trusted by parents in the community to transport their children. He exploited that position to lure the girl into the toilet. The court noted that Isaac maintained his denial throughout and sought to attribute the case to ethnic bias. Justice Oshodi stressed the judiciary’s duty to protect children and ensure that sexual abuse of minors attracts the full force of the law.

The court directed the prosecution to take immediate steps under the Victim Assistance and Witness Protection Law 2022 to provide whatever protection and support the victim and her family require. This followed a complaint by the girl’s mother during the sentencing hearing that staff of El-Bossaa Nursery and Primary School had allegedly continued to intimidate her and the victim in Epe. The judge expressly stated that the court made no finding on that complaint.

Anthony O. Agadah represented Isaac, while E.I. Ukpabio held a watching brief for the nominal complainant.

The case underscores Lagos State’s strict legal stance on child sexual abuse, particularly when committed by persons in positions of trust within educational settings.