The mother of the Chrisland student, who claimed her daughter was raped, accused the school of conducting pregnancy test on her daughter without her consent
By Kehinde Okeowo
The management of Chrisland Schools has refuted the allegation that the institution conducted pregnancy tests on one of the students who participated in the World School Games in Dubai, UAE last month.
Chrisland Schools, however, conceded that the students who made the trip were subjected to the mandatory COVID-19 tests upon arrival in compliance with laid down protocols on the pandemic.
The clarification is coming in the wake of a sex video that surfaced on social media and the allegation of rape made by the parents of one of the students while in Dubai.
The mother of the 10-year-old girl, while alleging that Chrisland School attempted to cover up the gang rape of her daughter, added that they also conducted a pregnancy test on her without the consent of her parents.
“They took her to do a pregnancy test without the father knowing and lied to us that they were taking her for a Covid test. Because we have started confronting them, they sent her suspension letter,” she said.
Reacting to the allegations through a statement issued on Monday night by Mr. Akin Fadeyi, a member of the Advisory Board of the school.
The School said out of the 77 students who represented the school at the event, only six were involved in acts unbecoming of them, while it also denied the allegation of subjecting any student to any medical test other than the mandatory Covid-19 test.
The institution also said the suspension handed out to the students involved was in compliance with their rule book and not an attempt to witch hunt the 10-year-old, as it is being peddled.
The statement read, “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 instill 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. For every comment we make in this delicate period, we should remember that those involved are children and as such, they deserve our very responsible management of this situation in order not to affect their mental health, as we seek to clear this temporary fog in the path of their growth. This is why irrespective of currently charged emotions, we need to endeavour to keep our heads in focus while carrying the authorities along in manners that leave nothing hidden, especially as we had nothing to hide.
“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.
“Nevertheless, our processes would be readily opened up for the scrutiny of regulators and stakeholders at the earliest indication of this, to enable the course of scientific or forensic inspections. We are certain this will lay to rest any shred of doubt or hazy optic that the present flurry of activities might have occasioned.
“Finally, we assure parents and guardians that we take unequivocal cognisance of the duty of care entrusted to us and we would never betray this, as we are more than ever resolved to work harder at keeping and building the trust reposed in us. We refuse to indulge in or give credence to the sentimental contrivances seeking to fuel this crisis the more with various renditions that have taken over the social media space.
“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.”
Lagos State Government through the ministries of justice and education also waded into the allegation and shut down Chrisland Schools to commence an investigation to unravel what transpired.