The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a teacher of Fazir-I-Omar Senior High School in Iwaya, Yaba area of the state for allegedly forcing an 18-year-old pupil, Mary (not real name), to perform oral sex on him for marks.
The development followed The PUNCH’s report published on March 27, 2019.
The report had detailed how the teacher, who teaches Mathematics in the school, allegedly pressurised Mary to give him oral sex twice and further demanded sex in exchange for marks.
Mary, an Abia State indigene who resides in the Makoko area of Lagos, had narrated how she was first forced to give her teacher oral sex at the age of 16 when she was in Senior Secondary School 1.
The victim, now in SSS 2, explained that on two different occasions, she succumbed to pressure and gave the teacher oral sex.
She alleged that the teacher further demanded sex if she ever wanted to graduate from the school with her classmates, but she refused.
Speaking with The Punch on Friday, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, DSP Bala Elkana, confirmed the teacher had been arrested. Elkana identified the suspect as one Akintunde Ajayi, 39.
He said, “The teacher’s name is Akintunde Ajayi and he is 39. I must commend The PUNCH for the detailed report because the information provided therein has helped us.
“We moved into action when we read it. We have the said teacher in custody and we are making efforts to find out whether there are other victims in the school apart from the girl that raised the alarm.”
Elkana added that the police was working with other stakeholders to conduct in-depth investigations into the matter.
Meanwhile, a non-governmental organisation which campaigns against sexual abuse and violence on women, Jewels Hive Initiative, has called on the Lagos State Ministry of Education, the police and other authorities to ensure that justice prevailed in Mary’s situation.
JHI’s founder, Mrs Oluwatoyin Falaiye, said the organisation had rehabilitated the victim and would provide further assistance to her and her family.
Falaiye also demanded the Lagos State Ministry of Education to re-enroll the victim in another school in the state for her to be healed of her trauma.
She said, “We have ensured that the victim is getting some help and counsel. We have taken her to a safe place for counselling and therapy. She, her mother and siblings live in a dingy one-bedroomed apartment and we strongly feel that they are not safe because she is already being shamed and stigmatised.
“We will do our best to raise some money to get them a befitting apartment and we demand that the Lagos State Government should ensure that the victim is safely re-enrolled in another school and that her molester be made to face the full wrath of the law.”