18th April, 2022
The Lagos State Police Command has begun investigation into an alleged rape video purportedly depicting students of Chrisland School, Lagos, going viral on social media.
Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Abiodun Alabi, in a statement said the Command has begun investigations into the matter with a view to establishing the identities of the players in the video and the true incident in the video.
Alabi, in the statement, issued by SP Benjamin Hundeyin, Command’s spokesman, said the police are also investigating the video to know 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 organisations,” he said.
Alabi assured that due diligence would be observed to ensure that there is no miscarriage of justice.
Earlier, the Lagos State Government ordered the shutting down of Chrisland Schools in the State over the incident.
The government in a statement said its attention had been drawn to the alleged sexual violence case involving students of Chrisland Schools, which occurred in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The government said it is pertinent to note that all allegations were being investigated by the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies, including Ministry of Education, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Ministry of Justice and the Lagos State Domestic & 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-centered 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 custodial sentence of fourteen (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,” the statement said.