Mr and Mrs Olusola, the parents of a four-year-old pupil of Greater Scholars International School, Ajah, Lagos State, have called on the state government to shut down the school.
Their daughter was allegedly defiled by the school guard identified simply as David under the guise of cleaning her up.
The parents made the call during a protest held at the school gate on Thursday.
Placards-wielding concerned persons including friends, family members and representatives of non-governmental organisations stormed the school and demanded justice for the child while also calling for the closure of the school.
The mother of the minor, Leah, said her child had not been the same since the incident. She also lamented that the school was yet to reach out to her and her husband since the incident occurred.
“The incident happened about three weeks ago and since then, the school has not deemed it fit to reach out to me or my husband, instead they have been trying to intimidate us into silence, but that will not happen,” she said.
She further alleged that her child was beaten after reporting the defilement to her class teacher.
It was gathered that the defilement allegedly occurred on April 27, 2023, when the said security guard was cleaning up the minor.
Narrating how she found out about the incident to our correspondent, Leah said, “My daughter was not her usual self on that Thursday when she got back from school. She was moody and refused to talk to anyone and we were worried.
“She also came back with different trousers from what I wore her to school and she was not wearing her pant as well, so I was suspicious and after I asked her what happened, she said she peed on herself and her trousers were changed in school.”
Leah said her daughter was moody for three days up until Sunday and she and her husband kept trying to find out what had happened.
She added, “It wasn’t until Sunday when she wanted to pee that she started crying, complaining that her vagina was paining her.
“I quickly put her on the changing table to see what could be causing pain down there. Then as I opened her legs, I saw bruises inside her vagina. I checked other parts of her body and there weren’t any bruises or injuries, just in her private part.”
She said she took her child to a children’s hospital where tests for infections were carried out and the results came out negative.
According to her, the paediatrician said it could be sexual abuse since there were no infections detected. They were then referred to Island Maternity Hospital to see a gynaecologist
“It was at Island Maternity, after examination by a gynaecologist, that they told us that the bruises in her private part were as a result of forced penetration,” Leah said.
The father of the child, Dami, claimed when he first tried to approach the school to inquire about the incident, he was threatened.
“The school has shown no remorse whatsoever and that shows they are unconcerned, complacent and wicked.
“They went as far as moving the pupils in the nursery school where the incident occurred to their other branch in the Abraham Adesanya Estate. We want everybody to be aware of what has happened and we want the school to be shut down,” he said.
Representatives from Inclusive Social Welfare and Empowerment Foundation, as well as Unbroken Foundation, were present at the protest.
The Case Manager for Inclusive Social Welfare and Empowerment Foundation, Theresa Okeda, said, “We call on the Lagos State Ministry of Education to close down Greater Scholars International School because it is not fit to be called a school. They are supposed to be corporate parents to the students and when a student is molested and the school is trying to cover it up, that is not the right thing.
“The owner of the school has shown no empathy and is yet to even call the parents to sympathise with them. When the child reported to her class teacher she was bullied.”
When contacted, the owner of the school, Comfort Ukpong, said the school would soon release a statement on the matter.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said the suspect was in custody at the Sexual Violence Unit in Ikeja and would be arraigned in court on Friday (today).
