Cleric bags life imprisonment for defiling two underaged church members

Lagos State S_xual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja has sentenced a 51-year-old cleric, Nduka Anyanwu, to life imprisonment for defiling and impregnating two biological sisters.

Justice Abiola Soladoye convicted the Lagos-based pastor on Tuesday of impregnating a 13 and a 17-year-old, both of whom have been delivered of babies.

The pastor reportedly defiled and impregnated the duo on the pretext of having prayer sessions with them.

Anyanwu was arraigned before the court over an offence he committed on June 3, 2020, at Arowojobe Street in the Oshodi area of the state.

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 prove 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 S_xual Offenders Register.