Man behind bar
By Victory Oghene
The Special Offences Court sitting in the Ikeja area of Lagos State has sentenced a 45-year-old pastor, Ndukwe Ogbu, to prison for defiling his 14-year-old daughter (name withheld).
Delivering judgement on Monday, June 30, 2025, Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt the three-count charge of defilement, sexual assault, and sexual assault by penetration against the pastor.
The judge added that Ogbu showed no remorse for the crime, when he pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, citing that he had other children to care for.
Justice Abike-Fadipe consequently found the pastor guilty of the three-count charge preferred against him by the Lagos State Government.
Justice Abike-Fadipe said: “Based on the evidence presented before the court, the defendant is found guilty on all three counts. He is sentenced to three years on count one.
“On counts two and three, he is sentenced to 25 years each.
“The sentences shall run concurrently and will be effective from December 2019, when he was remanded in custody.”
The pastor was arraigned in February 2021 and the trial commenced on October 18, 2021.
During trial, the prosecution called three witnesses and tendered exhibits, while the convict testified as the sole defence witness.
In her testimony, the survivor identified the convict as her father and told the court that she was 14 years old when the abuse began.
She told the court that her father had sexual intercourse with her on several occasions and threatened her not to tell anybody.
The survivor said she later confided in her teacher in school who reported the case to a social worker.
The defendant, however, denied all the claims and maintained that he was not at home as claimed by his daughter.
The pastor told the court that he lived in the same apartment as the survivor, but she had her own separate room.
Ogbu added that he lost his wife when the children were young, saying the other children lived in the village with their maternal grandmother.
