On Tuesday, an Ikeja Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence Court gave preacher Adam Farouk eight life sentences for defiling eight students in his class.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the students’ ages ranged from six to eleven at the time of the offense.
According to Justice Abiola Soladoye, the prosecution established the elements of the eight offenses, including sexual penetration, beyond a reasonable doubt.
Soladoye branded the priest a moral failure and a disgrace to the Islamic faith by Soladoye.
The court, according to the judge, did not believe his lies.
She claimed that the students’ testimony was supported by the fact that they recognised the cleric as their teacher, who had used his index fingers to pierce their vaginas.
The 10th prosecution witness, Oluchi Nwoke-Okoi, a midwife with the Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF), testified, according to Soladoye, that the students had vaginal injuries.
The judge further ruled that the defendant asked the students to turn around while he defiled each one of them individually.
“The defendant’s demeanour is nothing to write home about.” “His stony face appears naughty; he is incredibly cruel and vicious, and he fingers his students with his index fingers,” she stated.
What an unjustly exploiting Islamic teacher who played fast and loose with the purity and honour of his underprivileged pupils!
He is supposed to instil morals, rules, and values in his pupils, but sadly, the opposite is true.
“Our students’ safety and dignity must be respected.” Such a filthy Islamic teacher must be imprisoned and made to pay for his filthy sexual transgressions.
The judge urged the government of Lagos State to appropriately oversee educational institutions.
She also advised Muslim communities to frequently pay unannounced visits to Islamic schools to gain direct input on what students and parents think about the teachers’ actions and conduct.
“Given the widespread evidence of this horrible act, the need for this cannot be overstated.” “I commend the survivors’ bravery for coming out against the accused without any concern about intimidation.” It is important to encourage abused children to come forward so that their abusers can face the consequences of their actions.
“A teacher is a role model, setting the tone and leading by example, as he is meant to have an impact on knowledge and morals, but this defendant is nothing of the sort as he disregarded caution and got into mischief.” After carefully examining the testimony of each prosecution witness and the lone member of the defence team, I am beyond a shadow of a doubt that the prosecution has established its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The sentences will run concurrently, but the defendant has been found guilty of all charges and sentenced to life in prison for each of the eight offenses, according to Soladoye.
The convict’s name was also ordered to be entered into Lagos State’s Sexual Offenders Register by the judge.
According to NAN, the prosecution called 10 witnesses throughout the trial, while the defendant served as the sole witness for the defense.
According to the prosecution, the offences were committed by the defendant on Balogun Street in Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, between November 2018 and February 2019.
Section 261 of the Lagos State 2015 Criminal Laws prohibits sexual assault.
NAN
