The management of Chrisland Schools, Lagos, has admitted that aside from the 10-year-old female pupil seen in a viral sex video, four other pupils were allegedly involved in the sexual act that occurred during a foreign trip to Dubai, which led to the closure of the schools by Lagos State government.
The school in a statement issued by a member of the school’s Advisory Board, Akin Fadeyi, on Tuesday, said there was never any time a pregnancy test was conducted on any of the students that attended the World School Games in Dubai, United Arab Emirate (UAE).
According to the management, aside from the 10-year-old girl that was suspended, the others were also handed various punishments to serve as a deterrence to others planning to engage in such actions during future excursions.
The statement disclosed that 76 students represented the school at the games and that only five including the 10-year-old girl were discovered to have allegedly disregarded the school code of conduct during the trip.
Speaking on the allegation of a pregnancy test carried out on the female pupil, as alleged by the mother of the girl, the school management explained that it only conducted COVID-19 tests on the students when they returned from the said trip in accordance with laid down protocols by the Federal Government.
The statement reads in part, “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 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 endeavor 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.”