The Lagos State government has shut down Chrisland Schools following the accusations of condoning and covering up improper sexual misconduct among its students.
In a circular seen by Nigeria Info, the state said it was investigating the allegations against the school.
The circular reads, “All allegations are being investigated by the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies, including Ministry of Education, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Ministry of Justice and the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, while the criminal allegations have been escalated to the Commissioner of Police.”
The state government says the schools will remain closed pending its investigations.
The Issue
Nigerians woke up on Easter Monday morning to a tweet from a music promoter, Ubi Franklin that his friend’s 10-year-old daughter was raped by fellow students while on a school trip to Dubai.
This was followed by information that the girl who was allegedly raped was suspended by the school, Chrisland.
In a letter dated 14 April, Chrisland said it suspended the girl for participating in “‘Truth or Dare’, a game which led her and a few other co-learners to carry out immoral act after the lights out instruction was given.”
The immoral act referred to in the suspension letter involved a coital sexual activity between an underage girl and boy, captured in a video clip.
It took place while the students, reportedly aged 11 and 13 were in Dubai to represent Chrisland at the World School Games.
Chrisland’s headteacher, Georgia Azike accused the parents of the girl of failing to cooperate with the school during its investigation into the matter.
Chrisland Threatened my Daughter -Mother
But the mother of the girl had a different story to tell.
The family released a 12-minute video on Instagram in which she alleged the school tried to cover up what happened in Dubai and also threatened her daughter.
According to her, she was only told in March that her daughter kissed a boy while they were in Dubai. She was called in for a meeting with the school authorities.
“What they wanted me to do was for me to take her phone from her so they won’t keep practicing that,” she said of the meeting.
Meanwhile, the sex tape made in Dubai was already circulating within the Chrisland community and another parent alerted the mother to it, about a month after it was recorded.
She tried reaching the headteacher who did not take her call.
“I called her more than twenty times; she didn’t respond to the call,” she said.
“But later, I think she spoke with my husband and told him that she doesn’t know anything; if such a thing existed.”
She later found out from her daughter that the headteacher “threatened her not to speak out.”
The Girl’s Story
The mother said her daughter later narrated what happened to her.
“My daughter said that they went out in the morning to have breakfast and one of the boys [name withheld] begged her that she should borrow him her phone charger.
“So, she gave [name withheld] the charger. Then, later in the evening… the [name withheld] now called her room that she should come and pick up her charger,” she said.
“When she got there, they opened the door and one of them told her to take her charger from the toilet. (That) it was when she entered the toilet that they now hijacked her… told her to drink… to take a substance.
“So, they were all under the influence of drugs. So, after that, she did not know what she was doing again.
“So, that was what she narrated to me. And they told her to be climbing them and somebody stood and was videoing them and was posting it out.”
The mother said her daughter was silent for a long time after the incident because she was threatened by the school.
“They’ve been threatening my daughter that if she speaks out, that they’re going to kill her,” she said in the Instagram video.
“And my daughter was dying in silence, I didn’t know. Every day when she’s going to school, I will be forcing her. I will be telling her, ‘Come outside’, this child wouldn’t want to go to school.
“Even a teacher, her class teacher, Mr. Timothy was calling her a stupid girl,” she said.
“They took this girl, took her to go and do pregnancy test without me knowing, and lied to us that they were taking her for Covid test.”
She said Chrisland’s suspension letter came after they (parents) found out the truth and confronted the school.
Chrisland offers early childhood education covering nursery, primary and secondary education across 11 campuses in Lagos.
Nigeria Info tried to reach the school but its numbers were unavailable.
