Chrisland Schools has been lately on the news for a similar wrong reason recorded in the past.
The Lagos State Government has shut down all branches of the school over a rape incident involving its pupils.
A 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her schoolmates during vacation in Dubai.
The issue generated heated controversy, with some blaming parents of the children involved for undue exposure.
Three years ago, Adegboyega Adenekan, a supervisor at Chrisland School, Victoria Island, Lagos, was sentenced to 60 years in prison for defiling a 2-year-old child.
Justice Sybil Nwaka of an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court handed down the sentence, convicting Adenekan on a count charge of defilement.
She held that evidence before the court showed that the supervisor was guilty as charged. Adenekan was a supervisor at the Chrisland School, Victoria Garden City, Lagos State.
“This defendant is conscienceless, wicked, an animal, and not fit to walk on the streets. I hereby sentence Adegboyega Adenekan to 60 years’ imprisonment. This is the sentence of the court,” the judge held.
Seven witnesses, including the pupil and her mother, testified for the prosecution, which closed its case on March 14, 2019.
Reacting to the conviction in an interview, mother of the victim said she trusted the school with her most prized possession but Chrisland failed her.
“Chrisland is not just any school. The only reason we took our kids there, leaving behind so many other school was because we had a lot of trust in the school. We believed they could give our kids the best education, we believed they could keep our children safe. It never crossed my mind that her class teachers would carelessly allow someone to take her out of the class to his office to molest her.
“The pre-school 2 class teacher didn’t mention the family friend part until she was speaking with the police. I was extremely surprised. I mean, what kind of relationship existed between my daughter and this man that would warrant her class teacher assume we were family friends? Maybe if she had told me that, that would have created a spark, a reason for me to be worried.
“I trusted her, I trusted the school. I gave you my child to care for, with all due respect, I didn’t expect you to let anyone take her out of the class. I trusted Chrisland so much, that was why my kids attended the school in the first place. We trusted them with our most prized possession. We were living in our own nightmare. We never imagined this could happen to our daughter. We were not careless with watching and protecting our kids at all. In our wildest dreams, we never thought our daughter could be abused in school, the one place we could not follow her to.”
(The Cable)
