By Ayo Kehinde
To douse raging controversy following various interpretations and colourations being given to the improper conduct of some pupils of Chrisland Schools while on a World School Programme in Dubai, the Lagos State government has ordered that the School in the state be shut down pending investigation to unravel the veracity of claims and allegations.
According to the government, “It is pertinent to note that all allegations are being investigated by the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies including Ministry of Education, Office of Education and Quality Assurance, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Ministry of Justice and the Lago Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, whilst the criminal allegation has been escalated to the Commissioner of Polices State.”
Promising to ensure “adequate medical and psycho social support,” is provided to the victims, the government reminded those, “engaged in any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving children,” to desist, as they contravene the law and are liable to “custodial sentence of 14 years.” This includes producing, distributing, receiving or possessing an image of child pornography.
In his reaction, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, Deputy National President of the NAPTAN, praised the state government for what it called prompt action and blasted the schools management for what he described as a “show of shame and a sad one.”
He said: “I trust the Lagos State Commissioner for Education in ensuring that thorough investigations commences immediately.
“Honestly, it is a shame and a very sad one.
“I have watched the video and from what I saw there, it is as a result of poor parenting, indiscipline and improper counselling on sex education.
“There is also administrative deficit because even though they are children, boys and girls are not supposed to be together in same hotel room as seen in the video.”
Recall that 76 pupils from the school travelled to Dubai between March 10 and 13 for the World Schools Games. Five of the pupils were found to have conducted themselves in an improper way; a 10 year -old female pupil was seen in a video that soon went viral on social media having sex with a male pupil while one of them filmed it.
Management of Chrisland Schools, Lagos State, initially kept mum until the video surfaced online and then proceeded to give a detailed account of the trip to the World Schools Games in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, by whihc time parents of the girl insisted she was raped
According to a member of the school’s Advisory Board, Akin Fadeyi, on Sunday, the school authority made conscious efforts were made to separate the male and female and replied the victim’s mother allegation of rape, saying the management of the school did not take her for pregnancy test as alleged by the mother in a video.
His statement reads, in part; “We have followed up on reports making the rounds on certain developments bordering on the morals and ethics of some of the students under our care, who represented the school at the World School games, Dubai between 8 and 14 of March 2022.
“While we understand the emotions this has generated, we assure the public that our first approach as an institution was to assume parental roles by offering support to those involved and ensuring that nothing affected their senses of esteem.
“However, after a comprehensive evaluation of the situation, we cannot help but express how scandalised and distressed we feel as mothers, fathers and instructors with a relationship that holds a direct bearing on the development of those involved.
“Nonetheless, we took a critical view of the number of students who partook in this recent trip and who did the school proud in our quest to expand the horizons of our students holistically through global exposure, which takes into account a wholesome development of the mind, body and spirit through sporting engagements. Of the 76 children who represented Chrisland, 71 ensured adherence to our standards, abiding with laid down regulations and code of conduct, while doing us very proud in the process. Within these 71, we kept our girls on the 11th floor and Boys on the 4th floor to draw clear lines that respect moral boundaries.
“We were, however, compelled to engage with the parents of the remaining students who unfortunately got themselves involved in misconduct, and in accordance with our code of conduct processes, which are well known to the parents, we meted out measured reprimands to them to instil a sense of discipline and as deterrence to others. This was also to caution our students on the need to remain on the path of resisting wrong influences.
“The disciplinary action was in order not to undermine our cohesive culture as a community of future leaders and committed instructors, but to be assertive in handing down the sort of discipline that seeks to correct and reform our children, when they stray from the path of rectitude.
“While we hasten to affirm that as an institution that is managing children from diverse backgrounds, we cannot lay claim to, or embark on any sense of self-righteousness in our approach, but we learn and evolve within the frames of best practices every single day.
“As such, as we recognise that there will always be space for improvement, we are therefore irrevocably committed to re-evaluating our processes to reinforce child protection protocols, even as we shall leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the sense of the esteem of the children involved are uncompromisingly preserved. We have activated child protection processes and shall be engaging the expertise of child psychologists to ensure we translate this incidence to benefit the children in our care.
“We are therefore not going to give room to sentiments that adopt less empathy in terms of the effects of the present situation on our children. We implore all of us as stakeholders to work together as build-up partners, rather than pull-down enablers.
“We are proud to reassure our stakeholders that no rape of anyone or the administration of a pregnancy test on any child took place on our watch. For emphasis, only a COVID post-travel test was conducted on the returning delegation of our students, in compliance with COVID-19 travel protocols, at the Life Centre Medical Services on March 21, 2022, at School Hall, Opebi.
“This was through the nose swab test as consistent with COVID-19 health protocols. We trust that this can be verified at the source provided. To insinuate that a pregnancy test was carried out on a student, for whatever reason, therefore, is a highly unfortunate conjecture.
“The only account we are obligated to render is how well the children entrusted in our care have been managed, as we have excelled in doing in the past 45 years of our existence as an educational institution, and to ensure that in this whole development, the only winners here shall be this child.”
