A school teacher, Benedict
Ekpenyong, who was a teacher in Akintan Grammar School on Akintan Street,
Surulere,Lagos, was nearly beaten to death by mob before he was taking to a
police station for allegedly locking up a female pupil in his room and
attempting to rape her.
It was learnt that Ekpenyong, who
was a teacher in Akintan Grammar School on Akintan Street, Surulere, and lured
Blessing, also a pupil of the school, to his residents of Ogunfunmi Street,
Akobi Crescent in the Surulere area of Lagos and tried to rape her.
It was gathered that when the door
was forced open, the mob observed that Ekpenyong had allegedly attempted to
have sex with the pupil, and they began to beat him.
A resident of the street, who declined to give
his name, said; “I do not stay on Ogunfunmi Street but I knew when the mob went
to the house. For several minutes, people gathered in front of the teacher’s
room and asked him to open the door but he refused. Then, they forced it open.
“When they did, they found evidence
that Ekpenyong might have attempted to rape the girl as the pupil was not the
first person that would be brought to the teacher’s room. So, they began to
beat him up. It was a major scene on the street.”
Meanwhile, the girl was taken away
by the Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team of the Lagos State Government
for medical examination and rehabilitation.
One of the social workers,
identified only as Idowu, said, “The information we have is that the suspect is
notorious in the area for bringing little girls to his house and doing
suspicious things with them. He locks them up in his room so nobody gets to
hear anything.
“On Tuesday, the neighbours were
watching him and they sent an alert to the government. By the time we got
there, he had stepped out with the girl. The people actually beat him up and
dragged both of them to the police station. The girl has been taken and we are
making arrangements to move her from the station.”
The Coordinator, DSVRT, Lola
Viviour-Adeniyi, said the team would write to the Ministry of Education to
investigate the school as it had been reported that cases of sexual abuses were
rampant in the school.
She said, “It was a mandated
reporter that brought the matter to our attention. So, we informed a social
worker from the Child Protection Unit of the Ministry of Youths, to go to the
police station and provide protection for the girl.
“As we speak, the girl is under
protection. We want the police to ensure that the suspect is charged to court
as the government is interested in the matter. Also, we will write to the
Ministry of Education to investigate the school as we learnt that this was not
the first time cases of sexual abuse would come up.”
The Lagos State Police Public
Relations Officer, DSP Joe Offor, confirmed the teacher’s arrest. He added that
the police had visited the scene of the crime and would charge the suspect to
court after investigation was concluded.
He said, “A case of attempted rape
was reported by one of the neighbours. The suspect is a part-time teacher with
Akintan Grammar School, Surulere, and he was arrested while he was about to
rape his victim. The suspect will be charged to court after investigation is
concluded.”
