Mrs. Deborah Archibong, mother of 11-year old Master Don-Davies Archibong, alleged to have been sexually abused and mistreated at the Deeper Life High School Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, has threatened to go to court if the school fails to pay her the N100million compensation within 21 days.
Besides, Mrs. Archibong, who spoke through her legal counsel, Da David Okokon, said if the management of the DLHS defaults in the payment of the N100m within the 21 days ultimatum, she would proceed to court where she will increase the amount to N1.5 billion.
Okokon, who is the practitioner-in-chief of Eagle-Eye Network Chamber, told the Nation in a telephone chat on Sunday that the N100m compensation was non-negotiable.
He said the money was needed to enable his client fly her ‘abused’ son abroad for medical check up and treatment, adding that his client does not require a medical report to save the life of her son.
Okokon explained that the money demanded was not for the personal enrichment of his client or for stoppage of investigation but also a compensation for the ‘dehumanizing, horrendous torture and indignity his client’s son was subjected to.
His words, ”The 100million specifically is for the medical attention of the boy because we don’t know the level of damage done to him.
”There are medical experts and consultants that we are not privileged to have in this part of the world so we might have to fly him abroad to ascertain the level of contamination their actions have impacted on that boy.
”This is because today’s Bassey Akra, today’s Oyedepos, Udom Emmanuel, Buharis, Donald Trump and other lesders were minors many years ago and if they were abused the story would not be same today; they wouldn’t be where they are today.
”I stated very clearly in the letter I wrote to the management of Deeper Life High School that the N100m was for the medical attention of the boy. If we are to talk about life, of course you know no amount of money can equal to life.
“If they(DLHS) cannot meet up within the specific time of payment of the N100m we will be left with no alternative but to go to court. And when we go to court we will not be talking of N100m. We will be talking of N1.5 billion.
Okokon said further, ‘We are not pre-empting the medical report or outcome of police investigation on the matter because it is just like a lady who is raped. You don’t need a medical report to talk about the medical care for that victim or person.
You don’t need a medical report to take the victim to the hospital.
“The ongoing investigation is to ascertain the culpability of the characters involved in the whole unfortunate drama. We invited the police into the matter. The two parties in the matter are meeting with the police on Tuesday.
“It is based on our petition that the state commissioner for education was invited by the police even though her office abused the process of investigation. And of course we had also written to the education secretary of Deeper Life High School in Lagos. So N100million has nothing to do with stoppage of investigation.
“It is not a money to be paid to withdraw the case. We are saying the boy needs expert medication outside the country,” he said.
Mrs. Archibong’s lawyer explained that his client decided to go online to let the world know what was going on because the school authority refused to take responsibility for the incident and apologize accordingly.
“If the management of the school had taken responsibility for the sad and shameful actions in the school, my client wouldn’t have gone to the internet but she did that because they denied,” Okokon said.