Islamic Cleric Gets Life Imprisonment For Sexually Assaulting Pupils

Justice Abiola Soladoye of the Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja has convicted and sentenced an Islamic cleric, Adam Farouk, to life imprisonment for defiling eight pupils in his class.

Justice Soladoye sentenced Farouk to eight terms of life imprisonment after the court found him guilty of an eight-count charge of sexual assault by penetration brought against him by the state government.

 The prosecution had informed the judge that survivors, aged from six to 11 years at the time of the offence, were attending his Quranic school located on Balogun Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The state had also told the court that the convict, who committed the offences between November 2018 and February 2019 violated Section 261 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.

The prosecution called 10 witnesses during the trial while the defendant testified in his defence.

 In her judgment, Justice Soladoye, who described the convict as morally bankrupt and an embarrassment to the Islamic faith, held that the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt,  the ingredients of the offence

The judge stated that the court did not fall for the convict’s lies as the evidence of the pupils was corroborated as they identified the cleric as their teacher who penetrated their vaginas with his index fingers.

She further held that evidence of the 10th prosecution witness, a midwife with Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF), Mrs Oluchi Nwoke-Okoi, revealed that the pupils had vaginal injuries.

The judge also stated that the defendant asked the pupils to turn their backs while he defiled them one by one.

Justice Soladoye, ”the demeanour of the defendant is nothing to write home about, his stony face appears mischievous, and he is extremely unkind and ruthless, fingering his students with his index fingers.’’