A Chief Magistrate Court No. 16 sitting in Gombe has ordered the remand of a school principal and a class teacher at a medium correctional custody facility over allegations of sexual abuse and screening of an offender involving a 6-year-old pupil.
The Presiding Chief Magistrate, Barrister Hamaira Bema Demba, gave the order on Monday after the two defendants took their plea.
The defendants are Eleazer Yila, a class teacher at Destiny Treasure International School, Arawa Quarters, Gombe, and Nasiru Barau Manun, the school principal.
According to the First Information Report read in court, the incident occurred sometime in July 2026. The prosecution alleged that Yila called one of his female pupils, aged 6, into a class and sexually assaulted her by fingering her.
The state prosecutor, Barrister Manir Sambo, told the court that the matter came to light when the pupil narrated the incident to her mother, Saratu Emmanuel.
“He was alleged to have called the minor into the classroom and sexually assaulted her,” Sambo said.
The prosecutor further alleged that when the matter was reported to the school management, the principal, Nasiru Barau Manun, allegedly tried to conceal the offence instead of reporting it to the appropriate authorities.
“The second defendant, being the principal, screened the teacher and failed to report the matter to law enforcement agents,” Sambo told the court.
The offences, according to the prosecutor, are contrary to Sections 285 and 167 of the Penal Code Law of Gombe State.
The prosecution counsel also urged the court to try the matter summarily under Section 338 of the Gombe State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2020.
Watching brief counsel for the complainant, Barrister Nafi’u Abubakar, aligned himself with the position of the prosecution.
When the charges were read and explained to them, both defendants pleaded guilty.
In her ruling, Chief Magistrate Demba ordered that the two defendants be remanded in a medium correctional custody facility pending judgment.
“The court hereby orders that the defendants be remanded in medium correctional custody. The case is adjourned to 28/7/2026 for judgment,” Demba ruled.
