A Magistrate Court in Port Harcourt on Monday discharged and acquitted a lecturer at the Rivers State University, Prof David Ogbonna, who was standing trial for alleged sexual assault of a 21-year-old female student, Grace Ndamatin.
Recall that Prof Ogbonna, a lecturer at the Department of Microbiology, was arraigned by the police on the June 28, 2022, after being accused by Miss Ndamatin of sexually assaulting her in his office.
But the presiding Magistrate, Chief Magistrate Poromon Menenen, in his judgment, said the prosecution team failed to prove that their client was sexually assaulted.
Speaking to newsmen after the court judgement, one of the lead lawyers, Dr Emma Okah, one of the lead lawyers to Prof Ogbonna, said the ruling did not come to him as a surprise.
Okah stated, “I will tell you that I’m not surprised at all that the judgment of this court came the way and the manner and the direction it did.
“We knew from day one that in the absence of any evidence, there was no way the prosecution was going to succeed. The end result would always be the discharge and acquittal of the accused persons. And that is exactly what the court did.”
Okah further said that the court judgment would be sent to the university management to effect the reinstatement of Prof Ogbonna who had been on suspension.
“Initially, we would have preferred that this case be heard in public so that Nigerians would be part of the proceedings, hear and see what evidence the prosecution would tender. Not one, and you heard the court discharge the professor and acquit him.
Meanwhile, the prosecuting lawyer, G.U Amanna, declined to speak to newsmen on the court judgment.
