A Chief Magistrate Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Monday, September 25, acquitted and discharged a lecturer from Rivers State University, Professor David Ogbonna. The charges against him involved alleged unlawful and indecent sexual assault against a female student.
On June 28, 2022, the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) in Port Harcourt brought forth Professor David Ogbonna on a single count charge of unlawful and indecent assault. This charge was in connection with a twenty-one-year-old female student at the institution.
Delivering its judgment on Monday, the court, presided over by Chief Magistrate Poromon Menenen, cleared Professor Ogbonna of accusations of unlawful and indecent assault. The allegations revolved around an incident where he was accused of inserting his p£nis into the vagina of a female student in his office on the University campus. The court’s decision was rooted in the prosecution team’s inability to substantiate their case.
In his judgment, the Chief Magistrate noted that the mobile phone the female student claimed she had used to record her discussion with Professor Ogbonna on the day of the alleged incident had not been presented as evidence during the trial.
Furthermore, the disc the female student claimed she had transferred the recording to was also not submitted during the trial. The Magistrate pointed out that the underwear the female student said had a semen stain after the alleged assault had not undergone forensic examination. Additionally, the prosecution team had failed to summon the Health Worker who had conducted a medical examination on the female student as a witness.
Magistrate Menenen further criticised the prosecution team for not providing a testimony from Chidinma, the person the female student claimed had left her and the Professor alone in the lecturer’s office after they had both arrived.
In conclusion, the Chief Magistrate emphasized that there was insufficient evidence to prove the case of unlawful and indecent assault against Professor David Ogbonna. Consequently, he was acquitted and discharged.
