Sexual abuse: Lagos officials grill Chrisland management, parents

All parties involved in the alleged sexual abuse of a 10-year-old primary six pupil of Chrisland Schools met on Wednesday at the Ministry of Education in the Alausa area of Lagos State, The PUNCH has learnt.

An impeccable source at the meeting which started at 2:30pm and is still ongoing as of the time of filing this report told our correspondent that officials of the Education Quality Assurance and those of the Directorate of Public Prosecution are presently interrogating representatives of the school management as well as the parents of the affected pupils.

The source told The PUNCH that while none of the pupils involved was in attendance at the meeting, the school management, the parents and other parties will subsequently report to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti.

A mother had alleged that her daughter was sexually abused during the school’s participation in the World School Games at Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Though the school management said the female pupil was among 76 pupils that represented the school at the Dubai event, which was held between March 8 and 14, 2022, it said the allegation of rape was false.

Rather, the school located in the Victoria Garden City area of the state said two pupils of the school engaged in what the school described as “sexual misconduct” in a game called ‘Truth or Dare,’ when the act occurred after lights out.

The school authorities subsequently suspended the female student (name withheld) indefinitely, stating that she was “a major actor” in the “immoral act”.

However, the mother of the pupil, in a viral video, claimed that her daughter was drugged and raped by some male students of the school.
Earlier on Monday, the Lagos State Government closed all Chrisland Schools in the state, indefinitely, pending the outcome of investigation by security agents.

The Chrisland Schools’ incident was one of the disheartening cases resulting from bullying and molestations in secondary schools of late.

Last November, a 12-year-old boarding student of Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos, Sylvester Oromoni, reportedly died from injuries sustained after he was allegedly bullied and sexually molested by some senior students of the school.

Karen-Happuch Akpagher of Premiere Academy, Lugbe, Abuja, had died of sexual molestation in June 2021 while Don Davies of Deeper Life High School, Uyo, had also narrowly escaped death in December 2020, when his mother raised the alarm of alleged sodomy of her emaciated son.