…state government plans to shut down school
Juliana Francis
Child Rights Advocates have expressed outrage over the sexual violation of a three-year-old toddler by a female teacher in Tender Link School in Trans-Ekulu, Enugu State.
According to the victim’s mother, the child returned late from school and she had called repeatedly when the school bus took too long to bring her daughter home, she was told the school bus developed a fault.
The child had told her mom some moments after she came home that she wanted to urinate. As soon as she stooped to urinate, blood started gushing out of her private, causing her distraught mother to scream.
The child would later identify and mention a female teacher as the perpetrator.
A Child Rights Advocate organization, Ambassadors for Peace and Enlightenment Foundation, which is also under the network of the Advocates for Children and Vulnerable Persons Network (ACVPN), has stepped into the matter, demanding justice for the toddler.
Our reporter gathered that the teacher was taken to the police station, where she allegedly admitted to the act, asking for forgiveness. It was also discovered that the three-year-old victim was not the first victim of the teacher.
It was further gathered that a politician, simply mentioned as honourable, who is close to the perpetrator’s family, allegedly stormed Abakpa Police Station, where the case was lodged, threatening and accusing the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) making the teacher admitted to the crime under duress.
When our reporter called the school proprietress, identified as Ngozi, someone picked up her call, explaining that the Enugu State Commissioner of Police was interviewing the woman.
The Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Command, Kanayo Uzuegbu, has ordered the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (State CID) Enugu, to thoroughly investigate the case and ensure that the prosecution of everyone involved in the sexual molestation of the three-year-old female pupil.
The Enugu State Police spokesman, Daniel Ndukwe, said: “A preliminary investigation proves that the child (names withheld) was found to have been sexually molested, with physical injuries and patches of blood observed on her private part, after the school’s bus dropped her at home on Tuesday, November 14, 2023.
“This is in addition to the receipt of similar complaints by parents of other children at the school. Three suspects, comprising the victim’s female teacher, the school’s bus attendant and driver, have been arrested for interrogation.
“The Commissioner describes the act as unthinkable and wonders why the school’s authority and teachers will allow such to happen to the toddler they are supposed to tutor and protect from such an ungodly act.
“He appreciated the Enugu State Government’s decision to shut down the school pending the conclusion of the investigation while vowing to ensure that everyone found guilty faces the full wrath of the law.”
