The Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a former teacher, Nwatu Isaac, to life imprisonment for defiling an eight-year-old pupil at El-Bossaa Nursery and Primary School in Epe.

Justice Rahman Oshodi delivered the judgment on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, after finding Isaac guilty of having sexual intercourse with the child on March 10, 2022. The court held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

According to evidence before the court, Isaac, who was previously the girl’s teacher and was also involved in transporting pupils on his motorcycle, took the child into a school toilet, where the court found that he sexually assaulted her.

The victim, who was nine years old when she testified, identified Isaac in court and gave what Justice Oshodi described as a clear and consistent account of the incident.

The court also considered the evidence of the girl’s mother, who testified that she noticed blood on her daughter’s underwear and private parts after the child returned home from school.

Medical evidence presented during the trial was also considered by the court. A doctor from the Mirabel Centre testified that the examination showed physical findings consistent with penetration. The judge rejected the defence argument that the absence of DNA or sperm evidence weakened the prosecution’s case.

Isaac had denied entering the school premises beyond the gate on the day of the incident. However, Justice Oshodi held that his own evidence placed him at the school at the relevant time, while the victim identified him as the person who took her into the toilet.

The judge also rejected the defence of alibi, as well as arguments suggesting that another person could have abused the child.

Isaac was prosecuted under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, which provides for life imprisonment for unlawful sexual intercourse with a child.

In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered that Isaac’s name be entered in the Lagos State Sex Offenders Register, in accordance with Sections 33 and 38 of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency Law, 2021.

Justice Oshodi said Isaac had abused the trust placed in him by the child and her family, noting that he had been entrusted with the care of pupils both as a teacher and as a person who transported children.

The court also directed the prosecution to take immediate steps under the Victim Assistance and Witness Protection Law, 2022, following a complaint by the victim’s mother that she and her daughter had allegedly faced intimidation from some school staff. The judge, however, made no finding on that complaint.

The conviction brings to a close the trial arising from the 2022 incident, with the court imposing the maximum custodial sentence provided under the relevant Lagos State law.