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Child abuse: Jubilation as court releases Lagos teacher, accuser kicks

Published

3 years ago

May 19, 2022

Adewale Bakare

There was jubilation on Thursday at the Ogba Magistrates’ Court, Lagos State, over the release of a schoolteacher, Adewale Bakare, who was accused of child abuse.

The PUNCH gathered that the teacher had been remanded in Kirikiri Prison since May 4 before his bail application was granted.

However, his accuser, Mr Adebisi Arewa, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, faulted Bakare’s release on bail.

Teachers, parents, students and former students stormed the court premises as early as 7.30 am on Thursday, The PUNCH was told.

There was also jubilation on the premises of the school where Bakare teaches in the Sabo area of Lagos State after his release.

A jubilant crowd, who waited for Bakare’s arrival at the court for about two hours, carried placards and banners seeking the court to discharge the teacher.

While they sang victory songs, the teacher broke down in tears when he appeared from the Kirikiri’s vehicle that brought him.

Dressed in a red shirt and black trousers, Bakare thanked God and people for standing by him during his “trial and tough times”.

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“Thank you, God, for helping me. Thank you, God, for not putting me to shame. You are my helper, only you deserved to be worshipped, God,” he cried as the jubilant crowd lifted him up.

Speaking with our correspondent, Arewa said that the case was adjourned when he went to court today.

According to him, Bakare’s bail application was not debated.

He said, “How can that be? There are so many loopholes. I cry for this country. Anyway, he can only be released on bail and not freed.”

Backstory

There had earlier been protests over Arewa’s allegation that Bakare sexually abused his nine-year-old daughter on the school premises.

The protesters, comprising of educators, teachers, parents and former students, had protested on the premises of the Nigeria Bar Association, Lagos State Police Command and Lagos Governor’s Office.

The placard-carrying protesters argued that Bakare should not be kept in prison since the accuser failed to produce the victim for forensic tests or provide evidence.

They alleged that Bakare and his accuser earlier had an encounter over a parking space in the school but his accuser denied having any encounter with him.

Among the inscriptions on their placards are ‘say no to weaponised rape accusations’, ‘Lagos State, we say no to statistics, yes to justice’, ‘False accusation is a crime’, ‘rape is not a joke, do not accuse people to score a point’, and ‘rescue the Arewa girl’.

It was learnt that while in prison, Bakare’s wife delivered a pre-mature baby, who was kept in an incubator at a federal hospital in Lagos State.

48-year-old Bakare, who denied the allegations against him, had been a teacher for 21 years. He was a former principal of an international school where he worked for 10 years before joining Methodist Girls High School.

“It is noteworthy that Mr. Arewa has accused collectively more than five male and female teachers and aides of defiling his two daughters since 2019. As we speak, we have a teacher sentenced to life imprisonment in Kirikiri for allegedly defiling one of the daughters whom we shall call Miss O,” Bakare’s lawyer, Toyin Taiwo-Ojo had said.

During the protest, a child rights activist, Mr Saheed, urged the government and police to look thoroughly into the matter.

He said, “Prior to the arrest of Bakare, the Old Girls Association of the school organised a mentoring programme in the School Hall to celebrate the International Women’s Day on March 8, 2022. Arewa’s daughter was said to ask that ‘If you are being forced to do something you don’t want to do by your father, how can you stop it; and if you are being abused by your father, how can you run away from such?’.”

Arewa, however, denied the allegations, saying that the decision to conduct forensic interviews was ill-advised and precipitous.

He claimed that the teacher’s family, school, non-governmental organisations and former students are spreading false information about him and his daughters.

He also said evidence was provided in the case.

Arewa had said, “The survivor has been subjected to numerous ‘forensic interviews’ everywhere I was directed to take her, without my consent, beginning from Mirabel Centre and Domestic Violence Unit of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice; Ilupeju Division of the Nigerian Police Force and the Gender Unit of the Lagos State Police Command.

“All these interviews met the requirements of ‘forensic interviews’ because they were done in camera without my being in the same room with the survivor.

“That ‘forensic interviews’ in itself is riddled with pitfalls, inadequacies and inanities too numerous to do an exhaustive list; it will however suffice to mention its most critical flaws.”

The PUNCH, however, gathered that the Lagos State Government has taken custody of the children.

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Tinubu’s refusal to honour Seyi’s pact with us disappointing – Nnamdi Kanu’s family

Published

6 hours ago

January 2, 2025

Trends Admin

President Bola ahmed Tinubu and Nnamdi Kanu

Tinubu’s refusal to honour Seyi’s pact with us disappointing – Nnamdi Kanu’s family

The family of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, have expressed disappointment over the failure of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to honour an alleged agreement between his son Seyi , and the family before the 2023 general election.

Kanu’s younger brother, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, in a statement, claimed that Seyi with the approval of his father, personally met with him in Abuja shortly before the election, where both parties entered into agreement concerning Kanu.

According to him, it was agreed that IPOB would not bycott the polls on the condition that Tinubu would release Kanu if elected President.

Prince Emmanuel expressed disappointment that nearly two years after the emergence of Tinubu as President, his brother (Kanu), has continued to languish in detention despite the fact that the presiding Judge, Justice Binta Nyako, had since recused herself from the matter.

He said it was disappointing that those who claimed to be honourable, failed to keep their words.

The statement read:”Before the last election, I received a message from an ex-governor that Seyi the son of President Tinubu wanted to see me. I agreed to meet with him on the condition that the overriding priority and hence the fulcrum of our discussion will be the release of my brother. The meeting was held in Abuja in the presence of another individual whom I asked along to witness the deliberations and if need be provide independent verification should the need arise.

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“Seyi confirmed to me that his father sanctioned the meeting and that I should consider any agreement we reach as binding on the then candidate Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“In good faith we agreed that I shall relay the outcome to my brother to reinforce the long held tradition of IPOB not interfering with the conduct of elections, either through boycott or any other form of civil disobedience. This understanding was duly communicated to my brother and he reaffirmed his commitment not to stop the elections or order any boycott.

“When President Tinubu as a candidate visited Owerri during his campaign, he too reiterated his commitment to facilitate the release of my brother if elected. We took his public statement as a tacit reaffirmation of the understanding I reached with his son Seyi.

“At the end, IPOB did not call for election boycott despite having the capacity to do so. IPOB also made sure that discordant voices urging election boycott were overcome because election boycotts would not reflect well on the reputation of a global movement that prides itself on adherence to democratic tenets.

“It therefore, defies logic that nearly two years after President Tinubu assumed the mantle of leadership in Nigeria, my brother is still in detention despite not having any charge against him. It’s been over three months now that Justice Binta Nyako recused herself from the case yet no new judge has been assigned the case.

“This is on top of the fact that Appeal Court had earlier discharged him of the sham charges and ordered his release which the previous regime of Buhari declined to obey.

“Supreme Court determination that his bail ought not to have been revoked has been ignored by the courts and the government. The latest insult is that Abuja courts of all persuasion are no longer willing to determine the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu on merit but are rather relying on ludicrous and inapplicable technicalities to stall the timely determination of his cases.

“The truth is that Nigerian courts cannot, will not and do not have both the substantive and procedural jurisdiction to try him. His detention is without the backing of any known law in Nigeria or elsewhere in the world.

“It’s a shame that those who claim to be men of honour cannot honour their word.”

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Jealous husband stabs Bishop to death over allege affair with wife

Published

6 hours ago

January 2, 2025

Trends Admin

Jealous husband stabs Bishop to death over allege affair with wife

A jealous husband has been reported to have stabbed a Bishop of a Church in Osogbo, Rapture Empowerment International, Dr Sina Olaribigbe for allegedly having an affair with his wife.

It was gathered that the jealous husband and his wife had a long misunderstanding which the deceased was trying to settle between them, but had not succeeded.

It was learnt that the deceased visited the wife, who lived separately with the husband early hours on Thursday and the husband got the hint and quickly trailed to the house.

Findings revealed that on getting to the house, located around BCGA area behind Olorunda local government Secretariat in Osogbo, Osun State capital, the jealous husband who had been getting hints of the Bishop’s affair with his wife descended on him and stabbed him severally on the chest.

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A member of the Church, Isaac Oyeleye confirmed that the Bishop was stabbed to death on his Facebook page on Thursday, describing his death as unfortunate.

Confirming the incident, Osun Police Command spokesperson, CSP Yemisi Opalola confirmed the incident, adding that the suspect and the enstraged wife have been arrested.

She said the couple were not living together and the deceased Bishop was an arbitrator trying to settle the dispute between the couple.

Her words, “They are couple but not living together. They are not separated by law yet. The Bishop, (deceased) used to settle fight between the couple. We were told the pastor was at the wife’s place today when the enstranged husband got there.

“We were also told the husband stabbed the pastor. We were also told the deceased was on the wife’s bed when the incident happened. The husband stabbed him severally and he died”

Jealous husband stabs Bishop to death over allege affair with wife

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Police arrest couple over alleged rape, assault of minor

Published

6 hours ago

January 2, 2025

Trends Admin

Police arrest couple over alleged rape, assault of minor

The Police Command in Rivers has confirmed the arrest of a couple for allegedly raping and beating a 13-year-old girl in their residence in Port Harcourt.

The command’s Spokesperson, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, disclosed the development in an interview with Newsmen in Port Harcourt on Thursday.

The wife was said to have stripped the teenager and inserted pepper into her private part after accusing her of having sexual intercourse with her husband.

Iringe-Koko stated that the suspects had been arrested and transferred to the State Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for investigation and possible prosecution.

Goodness, the mother of the teenager, whose full name was withheld to avoid stigmatisation, recounted the incident to Newsmen.

A resident of Rupokwu town in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Goodness revealed that the assault on her daughter occurred on the evening of Dec. 29, 2024.

She explained that when she was alerted by neighbours about the attack on her daughter by a neighbour, she immediately closed her shop and rushed home.

“Before I got home, neighbours had already rescued my daughter from the wife’s assault.

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“My daughter was still writhing in pain from the beating and the pepper applied to her body and private area,” she said.

Goodness said that after her daughter felt relieved, she revealed that on Dec. 25, 2024, a female neighbour, who is a friend to the wife, took her to the house.

She said that on that fateful day, the man sent his wife and her friend on an errand, leaving the teenager alone with him in the house.