Landlord receives double life imprisonment for defiling tenant’s children

The Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Monday sentenced 65-year-old Igwe Ambrose to double life imprisonment for sexually assaulting his tenant’s seven- and eleven-year-old children.

Justice Abiola Soladoye delivered the verdict, stating that the prosecution successfully established Ambrose’s guilt on four counts of sexual assault by penetration and indecent treatment of a child beyond a reasonable doubt.

According to Soladoye, Ambrose, posing as a helper with schoolwork, committed the heinous acts by touching the children indecently and caressing their breasts. The judge characterized the defendant as a “filthy old man” and described the survivors’ evidence as compelling, highlighting the defendant’s unreliability and dishonesty.

She said the defendant had been identified and that the survivor’s evidence had shown him to be an unreliable, dishonest, and unworthy liar.

“The children decided to open up to their mother, who then informed her husband; he thereafter confronted the defendant and the matter was reported to a police station.

“The police visited the scene and the defendant was invited to the police station where he denied the allegations against him.

The judge, therefore, found the defendant guilty of all four counts against him, which were brought against him in violation of Sections 135 and 261 of the Lagos State 2015 Criminal Laws.

Mrs. Olufunke Adegoke, the State Counsel, called four witnesses: the mother of the survivors, the IPO, who submitted five exhibits, and two survivors.

According to the prosecution, the defendant committed the charges at Shagari Estate in Ipaja, Lagos, between January and June of 2021.