A 51-year-old Lagos-based cleric, Nduka Anyanwu, has been jailed for life for defiling and impregnating two biological sisters.
His sentence was handed to him by the Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja on Tuesday.
The convict was brought before the Justice Abiola Soladoye-led court over an offence he committed on June 3, 2020, at Arowojobe Street in the Oshodi area of the state.
It was reported that Anyanwu impregnated a 13 and 17-year-old sisters, both of whom have been delivered of babies.
His victims were said to be members of his church.
The convict, who claims to be a Minister at a Lord’s Chosen Church branch in Oshodi, raped the minors over a lengthy period in the name of casting out evil spirits from them.
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The prosecution team, led by Olusola Soneye, told the court that the offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. The prosecution had called five witnesses during the trial – the survivors, their parents and a social worker.
The convict testified as the sole defence witness.
Justice Soladoye, in her judgment on Tuesday, held that the evidence of the prosecution witnesses was believable and consistent.
Also, the judge noted that the police should have charged the victims/survivors’ parents because they were irresponsible in encouraging the survivors to get defiled by the defendant.
“On several occasions, one of the survivors returned to the parents to complain of the defendant’s conduct. She was beaten and sent back to the defendant’s place. The prosecution has proved the ingredients of the offences against the morally bankrupt defendant,” she said.
Justice Soladoye, therefore, sentenced the convict to life imprisonment and ordered the convict’s name to be included in the state’s Sexual Offenders Register.