17th August, 2020
By Moji Eniola
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.
The 34-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.
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.