April 18, (THEWILL) – The Lagos State Government has shut down Chrisland Schools in the state, following allegations of sexual violence involving students of the school including a 10-year-old girl.
According to a statement issued by the State Ministry of Education, the government said it has commenced an investigation into the case.
The State Government also warned persons circulating the sex tape of the students that they risk 14 years of jail term.
The statement read: “The attention of the Lagos State Government has been drawn to the alleged sexual violence case involving students of Chrisland school.
“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 & Sexual Violence Agency, whilst the criminal allegations have been escalated to the Commissioner of Police.
“In view of the allegations, we are committed to ensuring that adequate medical and psychosocial 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 of the implications pertaining to engaging in any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child who commits an offence and is liable to a custodial sentence of fourteen (14) years. This includes ‘producing, distributing, receiving, or possessing an image of child pornography.”
“In the meantime, all Chrisland schools within Lagos State are hereby closed, pending further investigations.”
THEWILL reports that a video reportedly showing a 10-year-old girl in compromising positions, while participating in a ‘Truth or Dare’ game with other students who recently travelled to Dubai for World School Games had gone viral.
The Pupils of Chrisland School, located in Victoria Garden City, had visited Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to participate in the World School Games between March 10 and 13, 2022, when the alleged rape of a 10-year-old girl was carried out.
The mother of the 10-year-old girl had raised the alarm over the culpability of Chrisland School in the alleged rape of her child in a viral video .
But in another viral video shared by Ubi Franklin, the music executive, via his Instagram page on Monday, 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.
“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”, she said.
“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 COVID-19 test. They did the tests almost three times. Please do they require blood or urine for COVID-19 test? I did not know until the whole issue became public.”
The woman said her daughter was suspended from school after they called the management to ask questions about the incident.
“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 room 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.”
But, on April 14, 2022, Chrisland School, in a letter to the girl’s parent, stated that she took part in an “improper behaviour” after playing the truth-or-dare game, describing her as a “major participant.”
In a letter dated April 14, 2022, the school reportedly suspended the girl for carrying out an immoral act after the lights out instruction was given.
The letter signed by the school headteacher, Mrs G.I. Azike, and first published by an online-based news platform read: “It was discovered that your daughter was involved in improper behaviour during the recently concluded World School Games in Dubai.
“(Names withheld) with a few of her counterparts willfully participated in a game they called ‘Truth or Dare’, a game which led her and a few other co-learners to carry out the 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 parent 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, she is hereby placed on indefinite suspension until you as the parents ensure that she is punished, adequately counselled and rehabilitated.
“However, if you need our assistance in any form to rehabilitate, the school is willing to assist.”
Chrisland School was in the public eye in October last year after Mercy Johnson, the Nollywood actress, claimed her 8-year-old daughter was bullied by her teacher.
Adegboyega Adenekan, a former supervisor of the school, was also accused of sexually assaulting a pupil, who was two years and 11 months old at the time of the incident in 2016.
In October 2019, Adenekan was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison by the sexual offences court — but, the supervisor had filed an appeal.
