•My daughter was suspended by school authorities
•Why we suspended student —Chrisland
•As NAPTAN, NUT call for probe
•We’ve commenced investigations —CP Alabi
A woman has claimed that her 10-year-old daughter was raped during a trip to Dubai, which was organised by Chrisland Schools.
Pupils from the private school, located in Victoria Garden City, were in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, UAE, to participate in the World Schools Games between March 10 and 13, 2022.
Chrisland Schools was in the public eye in October 2021, after Nollywood actress, Mercy Johnson, claimed that her 8-year-old daughter was bullied by her teacher.
Also, three years ago, a supervisor at Chrisland Schools, Victoria Island, Lagos, Adegboyega Adenekan, was sentenced to 60 years in prison for defiling a 2-year-old child.
Justice Sybil Nwaka of an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court handed down the sentence, convicting Adenekan on a count charge of defilement.
She held that evidence before the court showed that the supervisor was guilty as charged. Adenekan was a supervisor at the Chrisland Schools, Victoria Garden City, Lagos State.
Seven witnesses, including the pupil and her mother, testified for the prosecution, which closed its case on March 14, 2019.
School trying to cover up incident —Mother
In a viral video shared by a music executive, Ubi Franklin, via his Instagram page, yesterday, the woman also claimed that footage of the incident has been shared multiple times on social media.
She said she was not aware of what transpired in Dubai, till another parent showed her the video of the incident.
The woman also accused the school of trying to cover up the case and demanded justice.
She said: “As I was beating my daughter, she opened up to me and said the school threatened her not to speak out. My daughter was dying in silence and I did not know.
Every day, I’ll be forcing her out of the room but she wouldn’t want to go to school.
“I’m begging Nigerians to help me because Chrisland attempted to hide the issue; they wanted to push us out of the way and my daughter was going psychologically insane. I need help as a mother. My daughter is not okay.
“They took her for pregnancy tests without my knowledge, and lied to us that it was a COVID-19 test. They did the tests almost three times. Please do they require blood or urine for the COVID-19 test? I did not know until the whole issue became public.”
My daughter was suspended by school authorities
The woman said her daughter was suspended from school after they called the management to ask questions about the incident.
Continuing, she said: “To crown it all, because we started confronting them that we are aware of what has happened, they sent her a suspension letter,” she added.
“When I asked her what happened, my daughter said on the day of the incident they went out in the morning to have breakfast and one of the boys begged her to borrow him her phone charger which she did.
“She said later in the evening, the boy called her and asked her to come for the charger in his room. So, she went there.
“When she got to the room to get the charger, they opened the door and one of the boys asked her to go and get her charger inside the toilet. She said it was when she entered the toilet that the boys surrounded her and asked her to drink a substance.
“She said they were all under the influence of drugs after that and she did not know what she was doing again. My daughter said the boys asked her to climb on them while one of them was filming and sending out the videos.”
Why we suspended student —School
The school has since suspended the student for what it described as an immoral act
But the letter of suspension dated April 14, 2022, was signed by the Head Teacher, G. I. Azike.
The letter, titled: ‘Indefinite suspension of …(the female student)’, reads: “It was discovered that your daughter was involved in improper behaviour during the recently concluded World School Games in Dubai with a few of her counterparts. She willfully participated in a game they called truth or dare, a game which led her and a few other co-learners to carry out an immoral act after the lights-out instruction was given.
“In line with our core values centred on discipline, Chrisland Schools have zero tolerance for any improper behaviour and misconduct. A full-scale investigation has been done and the parents of all the culpable learners have been duly notified of the necessary punishment meted out on the learners.
“The parents gave their full cooperation, realising the need to work with the school so that the learners can be corrected and be of expected proper behaviour, henceforth.
“However, in the course of the school’s efforts to see how best we can help…who was a major participant in the whole incident, every effort to inform you as her parents about the incident and ensure that this improper behaviour is permanently corrected, has proved to be futile.
“We cannot, as a school, condone such. Consequently, (the student) is, hereby, placed on an indefinite suspension until you as the parents ensure that she is punished, adequately counselled and rehabilitated.”
When contacted, authorities of Chrisland School in Victoria Garden City failed to speak.
“We will get back to you on the matter. We will issue a press release soon,” a female voice who picked up the official telephone number of the school responded.
NAPTAN, NUT call for probe
Reacting to the incident, the National President of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, Alhaji Haruna Danjuma, said a thorough investigation must be conducted into the matter adding that nobody should be spared if found culpable.
Danjuma said: “It has shown the level of moral decadence in our society and we must stem the tide at all cost. If the culprits are young ones, they should not be allowed to pollute others and if it is somebody above 18 years, he must face the law appropriately.”
Speaking in the same vein, the chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, in Lagos State, Mr Hassan Akintoye, also called for a probe.
He noted that the state government should also be cautious to get to the root of the matter and descend on anybody found guilty.
Lagos govt shuts Christland schools, orders probe
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government has ordered the immediate closure of all Chrisland Schools within the state pending further investigations into an alleged sexual violence case involving students of the school which occurred in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The Commissioner for Education, Folashade Adefisayo, in a statement, said: “The attention of the Lagos State Government has been drawn to the alleged sexual violence case involving students of Chrisland Schools which occurred in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“It is pertinent to note that all allegations are being investigated by the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies, including the Ministry of Education, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Ministry of Justice and the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, whilst the criminal allegations have been handed over to the Commissioner of Police.
“In view of the allegations, we are committed to ensuring that adequate medical and psycho social support is provided.
“This is to reassure members of the public of the State Government’s commitment to safety and child protection, especially in ensuring that all child-centred institutions within the state, formulate and implement policies and systems that are compliant with the Executive Order (NO.EO/AA08 of 2016), Lagos State Safeguarding and Child Protection Program.
“We also use this medium to remind the general public that any person who engages in any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child, commits an offence and is liable to a custodial sentence of 14 years. This includes producing, distributing, receiving, or possessing an image of child pornography.”
We’ve commenced investigations —CP Alabi
Also, the Lagos State Police Command said it has begun an investigation into the immoral act.
The Commissioner of Police, CP Abiodun Alabi, also assured that due diligence will be observed to ensure that there is no miscarriage of justice.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, in a statement said: “The attention of the Command has been drawn to an alleged rape video purportedly depicting students of Chrisland School Lagos, going viral on social media.
“The Command has commenced investigations into the matter to establish the identities of the players in the video, the true incident in the video, the geographical location of the incident, the alleged threat to life against a student of the school and circumstances surrounding the alleged repeated pregnancy tests conducted on a student without parental consent.
The Command is equally taking cognizance of the cybercrime angle to the whole episode and would not hesitate to enlist the support of the Interpol should the need arise. For a holistic and unbiased investigation, the Command shall be working with relevant ministries, departments, agencies and non-governmental organisations.”
VANGUARD
