Justice Osho Adebiyi of a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced a 19-year-old school teacher, Abdullahi Abbass, to life imprisonment for raping a 9-year-old pupil in Kwali Area Council of the FCT.

 

 

 

Disclosing this to newsmen, the National Press Officer of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Vincent Adekoye, in a statement released on Saturday, November 1, said the agency described the judgment as another major breakthrough in the fight against sexual violence in Nigeria.

 

 

 

 

Abbass was working in one of the foremost schools located in Kwali and was the class teacher of the victim.

 

 

 

‘’On the 19th March 2025, after school hours, he sent another pupil to call the victim from their home. He thereafter took the victim down the street where he lived and raped the male victim through the anus. The report indicated that despite the threat from the convict, the victim reported the incident to his mother, which led to his arrest by the Police and the subsequent referral of the case to NAPTIP.”

 

 

The statement added that the offence is punishable under Section 2 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015.

 

 

 

He was arraigned on two-count charges involving r@pe and sexu@l abuse and subsequently convicted on 29th October, 2025.

 

 

 

 

Reacting to the development, Director General of NAPTIP, Binta Bello, commended the judiciary for the landmark judgment and the support of all partners in the prosecution of the case and the conviction of the offender.

 

 

 

“This is a landmark judgment that carries the commensurable punishment for the offender. This will serve as a deterrent, and his name shall feature prominently in our Sex Offenders Register.

 

 

 

 

 

I wish to say that the speedy investigation and arraignment of the Convict is a testimony to our renewed commitment and determination to tackle the incidence of domestic violence, rape, and other forms of sexual abuse in the Country.

 

 

 

I thank the Judiciary for the judgment and the Nigeria Police for the inter-Agency collaboration on this case.”