A NIGERIAN mother has cried out after her daughter, a pupil of Chrisland Schools in Victoria Garden City, Lagos, was allegedly raped during the recently concluded world school games held in Dubai.
In a viral video, the woman said she paid a lot of money to have her daughter embark on the trip at the request of the school, only to have her back raped and traumatized; alleging that the school deliberately kept the incident away from her knowledge and instilled fear in her daughter to keep her from speaking up.
Nigerian music artist manager and entrepreneur Ubi Franklin, who is a friend to the victim’s father said during the games in Dubai, his friend’s daughter was raped by fellow students, videotaped and posted on Instagram and the school concealed it for a month.
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“About a month ago, I was on my way out of Lagos when I got a call from Mrs Azike, a headteacher from Chrisland Vitoria Garden City, Lagos…they just wanted me to know that my daughter who I left in their care (sic) that they took to Dubai (sic) that she had a kiss with a boy and the boy also kissed her. They got it from truth and dare (a type of game where participants are mandated to tell the truth about any question asked or dared to do something difficult or bizarre).
“That what they wanted me to do was to take her phone from her so that she won’t be practicing that (kissing) and that I said okay that if it was just that, I was going to collect the phone from her. I asked if there was any other thing and they said no, even Mrs Kemi (one of the two delegates sent from the school’s headquarters) said I shouldn’t tell my husband, that it is not everything that women disclose to their husbands. I said no problem, as long as this is just kissing, that I would caution my daughter.
“I didn’t hear anything from them again, not until after two to three weeks that the headteacher called to say she wanted us to have a zoom meeting…we had that meeting, there were many people, boards of directors…they said they just wanted to do a follow up to ensure that I had withdrawn Julian’s phone and to find out how she was doing…at the end, we end the meeting and left, they didn’t tell me anything,” Julian’s mother narrated.
Chrisland Schools’ contingent who participated in the World School games held in Dubai last month.
It was not until the next day, when another parent called to inform and show her the alleged rape video which had circulated round the school, that she knew what was going on and reached out to Azike who refused to answer her calls. Eventually, the headteacher would speak with her, but denied knowledge of the said video.
She said the school under the pretext of conducting COVID-19 test, secretly took her daughter for pregnancy test, extracting both urine and blood samples from Julian without their knowledge or consent.
However, Chrisland schools claimed it had been unable to reach Julian’s parents to inform them of the incident and last Thursday suspended their daughter from school, for willfully participating in a truth of dare game with other pupils, which led them to “carry out immoral act after the lights out instructions were given”.
“A full scale investigation has been done and the parents of all the culpable learners have been duly notified with the necessary punishment meted out on the learners. The parents gave their full cooperation realizing the need to work with the school so that the learners can be corrected and be of expected behaviour henceforth.
“However, in the course of the school’s efforts to see how best we can help Julian who was a major participant in the whole incident, very 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, Julian is hereby place 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 Julian, the school is willing to assist,” the school said in the suspension letter seen by The ICIR.
Julian’s distraught mother is calling for help and justice for her daughter who she said has been traumatised by the experience and is now reluctant to go to school.