The thirty-four
year-old Otema, a quantity surveyor and facilities manager, was sentenced by an
Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, headed by Justice Abiola
Soladoye.
John Osagie
Otema, an alumnus of the University of Lagos bagged 50 years of imprisonment on
Monday for raping a 19-year-old student of the institution on campus.
Otema was
tried for three counts of rape and assault occasioning harm on two female
students.
He was found guilty on
two-counts of rape and assault occasioning harm in respect of the rape of the
19-year-old student (Student X) and was, however, found not guilty on a charge
of raping a 20-year-old student (Student Y) of the institution.
He bagged 50-years in
prison for the rape and three-years in prison for the assault on student X with
both sentences to run concurrently.
In absolving Otema of
raping student Y, Justice Soladoye noted that the demeanour of student Y in her
testimony was mischievous and she would not have claimed that she was raped if
Otema had paid her the N50, 000 agreed upon before their rendezvous.
The judge quoted a portion
of student Y’s testimony which stated,“With intention to scare him off, I asked
him for N100,000 but he said he will give me N50,000.
“I gave him my account
number but he did not credit my account. Friendship with benefits was the crux
of our relationship.”
The judge described student
Y as a game player who had embarked on a sexual frolic.
“The defendant, John Osagie
Otema in respect of count-one (rape) is found not guilty as there is
overwhelming evidence before the court that sexual intercourse between the
defendant and PW2 (Student Y) was consensual as it was friendship with
benefits,” she said.
In convicting Otema of rape
and assault occasioning harm of student X, Justice Soladoye noted that in
addition to medical evidence and photographs tendered by the prosecution,
student X had also identified the defendant as her assailant who bit her back
and punched her eyes.
“For count-two (rape), the
defendant is found guilty and is hereby sentenced to 50-years in prison as it
the evidence adduced before this court has been proved beyond reasonable doubt
by the prosecution.
“With regard to count-three
(assault occasioning harm) the defendant is found guilty and is hereby
sentenced to three-years in prison as the prosecution has done its job
diligently by proving the charge beyond reasonable doubt.”
The judge decried the spate
of sexual violence committed against women and girls.
“This State
of Excellence has zero tolerance for this sort of crime and the punishment
meted out to the defendant will serve as a deterrent to other sex offenders
that they too will be caught and brought to justice.
“Women and
girls like every other member of the society should be respected and not be
turned into prey by sex maniacs,” she said.
Earlier the
defence counsel, Mr Fred Onyeka, in his allocutus (plea for mercy) said that
Otema is a young man with aged parents who also had his whole life ahead of
him.
“He had the
misfortune of this matter coming upon him not long after he left UNILAG. He had
a good job before this incident occurred and was destined for the very top of
his career.
“What has
happened will definitely truncate the prospects of his rise to the top of his
career if my lord’s intervention in sentencing him does not happen,” Onyeka
said.
No comments:
Post a Comment