10 SPECIALREPORT When teachers prey on their students

While school teachers are part of the essence of moulding the nation’s future leaders, the activities of some especially, those sexually molesting the students under their tutelage is increasing and worrisome.

ILagos: n July 2017, two male teachers of a Lagos State Government Secondary School in Epe were declared wanted after they serially raped 10 female students of the school and in the process, infecting them with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

It was reported that the teachers allegedly took turns in raping the students after threatening to fail them in their subjects till they were exposed when one of the students was diagnosed to have been infected with the disease.

It was reported that none of the students knew they were infected until one of them complained of an unusual discharge to her mother and when she was taken to a hospital, she was discovered to have been infected with STD.

Another student who was said to have confided in one of her friends of a similar discharge discovered that her friend had the same problem.

A staff member narrated that during an investigation by the school after the case was reported, other victims confirmed that they were also raped by the teachers on different occasions.

When contacted, the Director of the Office of Public Defender (OPD), Mrs. Olubukonla Salami, confirmed the report, saying that the cases had been reported to them and investigation had begun.

In November 2015, a secondary school teacher with the Akintan Grammar School, Surulere, Lagos State, Benedict Ekpenyong, was nearly killed by a mob after he allegedly abducted a 14-year-old student and raped her repeatedly.

The girl identified as Blessing happens to be Ekpenyong’s student and whom he had invited to his house at Ogunfunmi Street, Akobi Crescent, Surulere, and locked her up.

But the randy teacher was not aware that some of his neighbours had seen him and became suspicious. The neighbours mobilised other residents who stormed his apartment and forced the door open.

Ekpeyong was reportedly beaten before he and the student were taken to the Alakara Police Division.

In June 2016, a nursery 2 female pupil was sexually harassed at the school premises by her teacher Miss Violet, a 27-year-old school mistress.

In October 2016, a teacher Enilolobo Olamilekan, lured his junior secondary 2 student into his parents’ apartment at Abogunloko Area, Ikotun.

In August 2017, a 23-year-old teacher, Ibrahim Idris, appeared before an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly raping three teenagers of the same parents.

The accused, who teaches Arabic, resides at No. 2, Kelani St., Adealu Bus Stop in Dopemu, Lagos.

The prosecutor, Clifford Ogu, told the court that the offence was committed from May to August, 2017 at the residence of the accused.

Mr. Ogu said the three sisters, whose ages range from seven to 12 years, were receiving Arabic and Islamic lessons from the accused.

“The parents did not know that the accused was sexually molesting their daughters until they relocated to another area and needed to change their Arabic school. The youngest of the girls told the mother that they didn’t want another uncle to be teaching them.”

Mr. Ogu said on hearing her daughter’s remark, the mother asked questions and was told what the previous teacher was doing to them.

In March 2017, the Vice Principal, Government Day Secondary School, Tunga-Minna in Niger State, Malam Mohammed Kuyizhi, appeared before the state’s Child Rights Protection Agency, over the pregnancy of a 16-year-old student.

The girl was a junior student in the school.

Hajiya Mariam Kolo, the Director-General of the agency, who presided over the case in Minna, said the matter was reported to the agency by a teacher, after the girl’s guardian informed the school that her ward was pregnant for the teacher.

Kolo quoted the victim as telling the agency that the accused was a very close friend of her guardian and had consistently visited their [victim’s] home.

“The girl also said the accused had sex with her three times in his office. She further said that she was always given between N50 and N100 for her transport, after the affair with the teacher,” Kolo said.

The Director-General further quoted the girl as accusing the teacher of giving her some pills after she informed him of the pregnancy, but that she threw them away.

She said the girl, however, confessed to taking the pills when they were offered to her a second time.

According to Kolo, the girl experienced severe pains after taking the pills, forcing her to inform her guardian.

Kuyizhi admitted to the sexual affair, but claimed that the girl seduced him into the act.

He also told the agency that he penetrated the girl, but did not release semen and could not, therefore, be responsible for the pregnancy.

Kuyizhi, however, pleaded with the agency for leniency and promised to take responsibility for the pregnancy.

In March 2016, a 28-year-old teacher identified as Goddy, was arrested by police in Kubwa, for allegedly raping an 18-yearold student he was preparing to sit for the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) and the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examinations.