Court sentences cleric to life imprisonment for impregnating underage sisters

The Lagos State Sexual offences and Domestic Violence Court sitting in Ikeja on Tuesday sentenced a 51-year-old cleric, Nduka Anyanwu, to double life imprisonment for defiling and impregnating two biological sisters in a church complex.

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

The judge held that the evidence of prosecution witnesses were believable and consistent.

She described the convict as morally-bankrupt.

The judge said that the police ought to have charged the parents of the victims/survivors alongside the convict.

She described the parents as irresponsible, saying that they encouraged the survivors to get defiled by the defendant.

“On several occasions, one of the survivors went back to the parents to complain about the conduct of the defendant. She was beaten and sent back to the defendant’s home.

“The prosecution has proved the ingredients of the offences against the morally-bankrupt defendant,” she said.

The judge held that the cleric should have his name written in the state’s Sexual Offenders Register.

According to Lagos State Government, the defendant committed the offences on August 3, 2020, on Arowojobe St., Oshodi, Lagos State.

The prosecution team led by state counsel, Olusola Soneye called five witnesses – the survivors, their parents and a social worker. According to the prosecution, the cleric defiled and impregnated the sisters on the pretext of holding prayer sessions with them.

The convict testified as the sole defence witness.