When teachers become predators

As reports of teachers sexually molesting students and pupils continue to escalate, RITA OKONOBOH and MOLOLUWA OLABODE, in this report, interrogate the absurdity of the act, and proffer experts’ recommendations for stemming the tide.

My teacher used to call me to come close and hold my hands. And then he will force me down and remove my clothes and have sex with me. I cried but nobody would come to help. After he finished, he warned me not to tell anybody and said if I do, he would beat me.” These were the words of terrified 12-year-old Jane (not real name), a primary three pupil, who is also an orphan, as she narrated her experience to the press.

According to the report published in April 2014, her teacher, one Chukwudi Boniface, who reportedly taught at a private primary school in Katsina State, had allegedly sexually molested Jane, who subsequently got pregnant. He had also warned her not to mention the act to anyone.

In another report in October 2016, a 35-year-old primary school teacher, Ndubuisi Chukwu, was arraigned before an Ogudu Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for alleged sexual assault of a six-year-old.

According to the prosecutor, Lucky Ihiehie, the complainant and mother of the victim, came to the Ketu Police Station in company with the victim to report the incident.

He said the complainant came with a referral letter from the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Team at Alausa and reported that the accused had been sexually assaulting her daughter since June 2016.

Ihiehie said the complainant told the police that the accused again attempted to rape her daughter, a primary two pupil.

“The complainant said that her daughter came back home on that fateful day complaining of pains in her private parts. When the mother asked her if anyone touched her there, she said the accused called her into the Fine Arts room after the close of school and told her to remove her underwear . She said the girl told her that the accused has been raping her and then clean her up afterwards,” Ihiehie said.

In another media report, the Ogun State Police Command arrested a private school teacher, Matthew Sodeke, for allegedly sexually assaulting 16-year-old Ajala but was caught by a parent, who had come to pick her child from school.

The teacher was allegedly caught sucking Ajala’s private parts in one of the offices in the school. According to Ajala, it was not the first time the teacher would be molesting her.

Interestingly, it would not be Sodeke’s first time of allegedly sexually assaulting a minor as he was said to have been previously caught doing same to a neighbour.

In yet another report, detectives of the Lagos State Police Command arrested a 42-year-old teacher, Adenekan Adegboyega, for allegedly raping a two-year-old nursery pupil. Although Adegboyega denied the claim, the victim, according to medical report was confirmed to have been sexually assaulted.

In a report by researchers – Daru P.H; Osagie E.O, Pam I.C, Mutihir J.T; Silas O.A and Ekwempu C.C – on cases of rape reported at the Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State between January 2001 and December 2003, it was discovered that 2,135 patients were seen in the Gynaecological Emergency Unit of the hospital.

“However, only 105 case notes were available for analysis. Of these, 63.8% of the alleged rapes were in children, with the infantile age group accounting for 26.7%. 36.2% of the victims had experienced some form of sexual exposure prior to the rape.

“A previous relationship with the rapist was established in 77.4% of the cases. Most cases delayed in presenting to hospital.  Three-quarters of the assailants had some form of relationship with the victims, which may account for the delays in reporting,” the report stated.

Among the three-quarters of the assailants which had some form of relationship with the victims are obviously teachers who relate with the victims almost on a daily basis.

A pending case of alleged rape is that of a 47-year-old teacher and administrator of King of Kings College, Benin City, who is being prosecuted by the Edo State government.

The suspect is accused of sexually harassing and raping underage and teenage students of his college.

According to media reports, one of the students, a 12-year-old female JSS II student, testified that the teacher, the son of the school proprietor, was her English and Literature teacher and that after school hours, the suspect would invite her to his office where he would hug, kiss, and insert his fingers into her genitals. She was afraid to report him because he threatened to fail her in class.

Pupils and students spend much of their productive growing up hours with teachers, and with the increased rate of reports which take up media space, on an almost daily basis, many have wondered the attraction, considering the important role teachers play as models for their pupils and students.

 

Parents of victims should be willing to follow up on cases to discourage future perpetrators —Psychologist

Counselling Psychologist at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Dr Ndidi Ofole, spoke with Sunday Tribune on the psychological implications of the act.

According to her, “Such teachers have psychological problems. When a teacher begins to admire a younger student, such teacher is regressing, that is, going back to an earlier stage of development. The same scenario plays out when we hear of men sexually molesting younger females. It’s a psychological problem. Apart from regression and the fact that it is an aberration, there is power imbalance between the perpetrator and the victim. In some cases, the perpetrator doesn’t have the wherewithal to confront a person of the same developmental ground, and as such, they resort to someone who does not have the power to resist. In some cases, the child sees such attention as a favour – the inducements with gifts, preferential treatment in classes. The child takes delight in such attention and as such, become easy targets for the teachers.

“The punishments are numerous. At present, there are so many issues. For private schools, it is immediate sack, and the culprit is made to face the law. In Nigeria, however, the problem is that parents are not willing to follow up on such cases because of the social stigma attached to such experiences. They withdraw the cases. The truth, however, is that if such people are made to face the law, such cases of teachers molesting their pupils or students will reduce drastically. The media also has a role to play. Rather than shield the identity of such perpetrators, they should be exposed.”

While calling on parents to pay more attention to their children’s activities, and improve communication, Dr Ofole also advised them to empower their children to be more assertive.

According to her, “For the children, there are ways to address the issues. For instance, there is the programme in Lagos, in which a child can call some numbers of some trained counsellors, if he/she finds themselves in such situations. The caller remains anonymous and there will be respondents, irrespective of the location. A child should be taught sexual education as early as possible, especially with the availability of information, with some unscientific and unproven. There was the case of a girl who was told by her peers that she needed to have sex to reduce menstrual pain and she did it. In fact, she even brought meals for the man at intervals as a way to thank him.

“I will advise parents to empower their children. There are programmes run in schools that educate children on what are referred to as ‘danger zones’ when it comes to their bodies. Sex education should also be taken as a priority. It is unfortunate that sometimes, we hide under culture and ignore sex education, under the assumption that it would make the children promiscuous. That should change. Children should also be taught assertive skills. They should know when to say no, especially when they’re in a position of imbalance. Girl-children should also be taught the importance of standing up in the face of such molestations. There is also the need to improve parents-children relationships. Even with daughters, father should be more involved in talking about sexuality.”

 

They should serve at least 25 years imprisonment —Proprietress

A proprietress, Reverend (Mrs) Olubukola Rosemary Ogunyemi, who stated that she had heard lots of rape stories, called for strict sanction for such offenders.

“I believe it is a bit unfortunate that someone, who is supposed to instruct, direct, impact, and mould the life of the student, is the same person violating the individual. Unfortunately, in this part of the world, where there is no database on paedophiles and sex offenders, such teachers move from school to school. After being released from prison, they take up another job and commit these atrocities again and again.

“I suggest very severe measures should be taken. Such a teacher should be sanctioned, have their names removed from Teachers’ Registration Council, and be made to serve at least 25 years in prison. They should be listed as sex offenders and paedophiles, and should never teach again,” she told Sunday Tribune.

 

I’ll recommend capital punishment —Parent

A member of the Parents Teachers’ Association, Mrs Janet Olumilua, in her reaction, called for such teachers to be expelled from the teaching community in totality.

“Such teachers have no place in the community because they constitute a threat. In fact, I would advocate that such teachers not be allowed to work anywhere else because sexual molestation of minors is a very serious offence. It is sad that we have so many paedophiles in our communities and most times, government doesn’t follow up on such cases. We hear stories of minors sexually molested and it is very saddening because the victims’ childhood is taken from them. I would recommend capital punishment to deter other perpetrators from engaging in such dastardly act,” Mrs Olomilua stated.

Other parents and teachers, who spoke with Sunday Tribune, also advocated various punishments for such teachers.

While Mrs Taiwo Adebola stated that “such teachers should be castrated,” Mrs Funke Afodunrinbi called for assessment of such teachers’ mental health and Mrs Funke Omotosho stated that “such a teacher should be sentenced to life imprisonment. Such actions deserve serious punishment.”

Another teacher, Mrs Jumoke Olabode, who stated that “A teacher is in a position to impart morals and life into children and when such a person is found culpable in such act, the punishment should be very severe,” however, noted that “It’s a pity the Nigerian government doesn’t pay attention to these cases. Such teachers should be locked up. In fact, such actions should be condemned in totality.”