Lagos State Government has shut down all Chrisland Schools in Lagos State indefinitely.
The decision followed a controversy generated over an “immoral act” engaged in by students of the school during a trip to Dubai.
The shutdown notice was contained in a press statement on Monday.
It was gathered that pupils from the elite private school located in Victoria Garden City had embarked on a trip to Dubai to participate in the World School Games between March 10 and 13, 2022 when the incident happened.
Following the incident, the school authorities suspended the student indefinitely, stating that she was “a major actor” in an “immoral act”.
But the mother of the student claimed that her daughter was drugged and raped by some male students of the school.
Efforts to reach the school for clarification proved abortive as of the time of filing this report.
The government, in the statement, noted that an investigation into the matter had begun.
The statement read, “The attention of the Lagos State Government has been drawn to the alleged sexual violence case involving students of Chrisland Schools which occurred in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“It is pertinent to note that all allegations are being investigated by the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies, including the Ministry of Education, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Ministry of Justice and the Lagos State
Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, whilst the criminal allegations have been escalated to the Commissioner of Police.
“In view of the allegations, we are committed to ensuring that adequate medical and pscyho-social support is provided.
“This is to reassure members of the public of the State Government’s commitment to safety and child protection, especially in ensuring that all child-centred institutions within the state, formulate and implement policies and systems that are compliant with the Executive Order (NO.EO/AA08 of 2016), Lagos State Safeguarding and Child Protection Program.
“We also use this medium to remind the general public that any person who engages in any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child, commits an offence and is liable to a custodial sentence of 14 years. This includes “producing, distributing, receiving, or possessing an image of child pornography”.
“In the meantime, all Chrisland Schools within Lagos State are hereby closed, pending further investigations.”
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command has said it had commenced investigation into the matter.
The police also said it won’t hesitate to engage the assistance of the International Criminal Police Organisation to get to the root of the incident which occurred in March 2022 when the school took the students to Dubai to participate in the World School Games.
The police spokesman in Lagos, Benjamin Hundeyin, made this known in a statement titled, ‘Re: Viral Chrisland School Video…We Have Commenced Investigations – CP Alabi’.
The statement read, “The attention of the Lagos State Police Command has been drawn to an alleged rape video purportedly depicting students of Chrisland School Lagos, going viral on social media.
“The Command has commenced investigations into the matter with a view to establishing the identities of the players in the video, the true incident in the video, the geographical location of the incident, the alleged threat to life against a student of the school and circumstances surrounding the alleged repeated pregnancy tests conducted on a student without parental consent.
“The Command is equally taking cognizance of the cybercrime angle to the whole episode and would not hesitate to enlist the support of the Interpol should the need arise. For a holistic and unbiased investigation, the Command shall be working with relevant ministries, departments, agencies and non-governmental organizations.
“Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Abiodun Alabi, fdc, mnim, psc has assured that due diligence will be observed to ensure that there is no miscarriage of justice.”
