Lagos to shut schools where pupils are defiled

As schools resumed for the new session yesterday across Lagos, the state government has vowed to shut any school that failed to provide adequate security for its pupils, leading to the premises been used to perpetrate defilement, rape or other illicit acts.

The Ijegun school that was shutdown

Worried by the increase in reported cases of defilement, the state government commenced the exercise shutting the private primary school where proprietor, Mr. Joseph Ogunleye was charged to court over alleged defilement of two pupils in his school.

The 56-year-old proprietor, who was charged before a Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos, allegedly defiled a seven-year-old girl and a 10-year-old girl who were pupils in his school on June 27, 2015 at Ijegun, Ikotun area of Lagos.

Ogunleye, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge before the Magistrate, Mrs. O.A. Erinle. The magistrate however granted him bail in the sum of N500,000, with two sureties in like sum and adjourned the case till October 26, 2015.

Barely a month to the next trial, Vanguard gathered that the state governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has directed officials of the Monitoring and Investigative department of the State Ministry of Education to shut the school indefinitely.

Domestic violence

It was learnt that the directive was in fulfillment of his earlier promise to wage war against sexual abuse and domestic violence in the state.

He was quoted as saying; “One of my cardinal programmes in the course of the campaign was that I was going to stand up for everyone and standing up for everyone is actually standing up for women and children.”

He lamented that the society has always been very uncharitable towards issues that relate to children and women, adding; “Lagos State in 2007, passed a law on domestic violence. ‘’But beyond that, the law cannot work by itself except we create the framework that enforces our laws, that is what we are standing for and in that respect, we talked about issues that relate to sexual and gender violence.”

When Vanguard visited the school, God Grace Global Group of School at Alagbelebu Street, Kudeyibu Estate, Ijegun, Lagos on Monday, September 14, 2015, there was no activity within the premises which used to be for religious gatherings too.

At the entrance of the school was a seal of the State Government which reads: “School closed indefinitely.”

Sources added that academic activities may never hold in the school again considering the gravity of the alleged offence committed by the proprietor.

Last week, while speaking on the need for adequate security in schools at a one-day workshop for Principals and Head-teachers in Education District VI, Oshodi, Director-General of the Office of Education Quality Assurance, OEQA, Mrs. Ronke Soyombo said that the state government will not shield any school that fail to provide adequate security for the pupils in its care.

Her words “Where children are not well catered for and safety is not adhered to, the state government may be forced to intervene. We have the monitoring and investigative department that ensures that if parents are not happy with some issues in the school, first they can complain to the management. And when the school management fails to act, they should endeavour to complain to the state government.”

She noted that the governor expect that all children would be protected irrespective of their school, adding that though there are few schools where children were being abused but the government has to take necessary action.

According to her; “The aim is to ensure that the future leaders of the state are well catered for and to restore education in the state back to where it was over three decades ago. We have often been the best and we can reach that height again if all standards are adhered to.”

Medical and police reports

Also recently, the Coordinator, Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, DSVRT, Mrs. Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi in a statement, said; “In July alone, the team has attended to about 50 cases in the state.”

Of these cases, she said at least 30 of them are victims of domestic violence and over 20 cases were also monitored which include child abuse, defilement and rape with key evidential medical and police reports.

Vivour-Adeniyi however said this is excluding the total number of cases the Directorate of Public Prosecutions is prosecuting at the High Court.

On the effort by the state government, she stated that over 800 mandated reporters who are state government employees have been trained on how to detect signs of child abuse and steps to take in reporting such cases.

“Furthermore, over 2,000 school children have been empowered through our rape prevention workshops on how to avoid being a victim of sexual abuse, self defence and how to preserve evidence when physically or sexually assaulted”, she added.

The coordinator noted that the state has dedicated 112 toll free emergency lines to report cases of rape, defilement, domestic violence and others, adding that 190 officials of the State Emergency Command and Control centre on how to receive reports of sexual abuse and others.

8-year-old Boy kidnapped From School, Exchanged For N51,000 Goods In Lagos

Attempt  by a middle-aged man to exchange an eight-year-old kidnapped boy with goods worth N51,000 in Surulere area of Lagos,  has been foiled , following his arrest, Monday.

The suspect, identified as Jonathan Cooker, reportedly kidnapped the primary school pupil (names withheld) who was returning from a  summer coaching in a school located around Lawrence road.

Thereafter, he reportedly took the boy to a provision store located on Cole Street and ordered for crates of soft drinks  worth N51,000.

Instead of paying, he was said to have told the shop owner that he would be leaving his younger brother (kidnapped boy) behind,  to get money from the house. The unsuspecting shop owner obliged him and gave the crates of soft drinks to him.

But the bubble burst after a  passer-by  who identified the little boy asked what he was doing in the shop. At that moment, Cooker reportedly  increased his pace  in a bid to escape from the scene . But he was immediately apprehended when the little boy told the passer-by that he was picked by a stranger.

Ijaw Youths Killed Four Lagos Policemen, Escape With Corpses

Estelle says: When will all this violence stop? Killing people for doing their job and not even having mercy on what you can never create. This is sad.

Tragedy struck on Monday on Ishawo Road, Ikorodu, Lagos State, after some Ijaw youths, suspected to be pipeline vandals, opened fire on policemen in the area, killing four.

PUNCH Metro learnt that while three of the deceased were attached to the Owutu Police Division, one was from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.

Residents said the Ijaw youths took away the corpses of three of their victims.

Our correspondent observed during a visit to the area that there was apprehension in the community, while there were still bloodstains at the scene of the shooting.

A resident, who asked not to be named, said he started hearing gunshots on Sunday.

He told our correspondent petrol was generally referred to as ‘water’, or ‘pure water’.

He said, “We started hearing gunshots in the evening of Sunday. But it was between 3am and 4am on Monday that the gunshots intensified.

“We did not know what transpired between the ‘pure water’ sellers and the police, who have a patrol team by the roadside, until we woke up to see blood and later learnt that some policemen had been killed.”

Another member of the community explained that the killing was due to a disagreement between the policemen and the suspected vandals.

He said the vandals had paid the policemen some money after they intercepted four tankers of fuel in the community, but the SARS officers later came to make a separate demand.

“After the policemen from Owutu had been settled, SARS operatives came and said they had not been given their own share.

“The vandals asked them to meet their colleagues who had already been paid. They told the SARS men that they were not making much money from the business and that their demand was excessive.

“The SARS officers became angry and seized the tankers.”

PUNCH Metro learnt from a police source that the vandals left the trucks and returned to their commander in the creek.

The source said the commander, one OC, was the one coordinating the vandals in the creek.

The source said, “After SARS officials took over their trucks, they threatened to take them to their station if their demands were not met. The vandals went to mobilise themselves and returned with their boss, OC.

“OC then ordered them to open fire on the policemen and that was how three of them died.”

The source identified the deceased cops attached to the Owutu division as Inspector Yerima and Corporal Adakuro, adding that one Sergeant Endurance was rescued from the scene and taken to the Ikorodu General Hospital, from where he was referred to the Lagos Island General Hospital.

He said the station immediately received a call from two other officers, who escaped unhurt, warning of the possibility of an attack on the station.

A source told PUNCH Metro that one of the slain cops, Adakuro, was of Ijaw descent, and knew many of the vandals.

It was learnt that the police corporal had called the bluff of the vandals, which aggravated the matter.

His handset, which had the phone numbers of the vandals, was said to have been taken away after the incident.

It was gathered that the Divisional Police Officer of the Owutu station had reported the case at the command headquarters.

The two policemen, who escaped unhurt, were also asked to report at the command.

A senior police source said, “The DPO reported to the CP this morning (Monday). The community has always been peaceful, but the SARS men came to cause trouble. And now, some of our men are unaccounted for.”

The General Secretary of Igbo-Olomu Central Working Committee, Obatungashe Adebayo, blamed the government for the rising insecurity in the community.

Adebayo, who stated that 60 litres of petrol was being sold for N2,500 and 30

litres for N1,500 in the community, said the government had refused to address the problem of the Ijaw militants in the area.

He said, “The question is how did they manage to get this sophisticated weapons? We don’t have peace in this community, because at times, we could just be hearing continuous gunshots, as if we are in a war zone. Successive governments have ignored our cries.”

When PUNCH Metro entered the palace of the traditional ruler, whose house was adjacent to the scene of the incident, he was said to be unavailable.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Patricia Amadin, had yet to respond to enquiry on the matter as of the time of filing this report.

However, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, declined to state the number of policemen killed.

“I don’t have the information that four cops were killed.

“But we will soon issue something which the PPRO will release to the press. It is not good to speculate,” he said.

I am not fighting with Fashola says Tinubu

The national leader of the APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has distanced himself from the recent attacks against former Governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Fashola.
Bola Tinubu added that the attacks were being sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party. Tinubu said in his statement  issued by his media office on Wednesday.
  According to the report on the state government website, Fashola spent N78.3m on his personal website, and N139m to construct two boreholes at the Lagos house, Ikeja, when he was governor.
There had been speculations that the report were being sponsored by Tinubu as part of efforts to discredit him and deny him the opportunity of being appointed a minister by President Buhari. However, Tinubu said the allegations against him (Tinubu), were the handiworks of mischief makers sponsored by the PDP.

My question is did PDP hack into the Lagos state government website to post the report or did the PDP also told Tinubu or Ambode not to attend Fashola's book launch?
This people should start taking responsibilities for their actions jare. Tired of the cat and dog fight, thought all these would be over after the election.