28, 2020 shows Mrs Deborah Okezie saying she is being threatened
and under pressure to drop the case.
The mother of a student of the Deeper Life High School
who was abused sexually has alleged threats and pressure from
undisclosed quarters asking her to drop the case.
Mrs Deborah Okezie’s 11-year-old child was said to have been
sexually molested by some senior students in the school located in
Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.
She had posted a video on Facebook where she alleged that her
son, a JSS1 student, was sexually abused by his seniors when he was
moved from his hostel to another hostel originally meant for senior
students.
Okezie noted that the boy was frequently starved and beaten up
by the senior students and in the video, she compared a picture of
her son before and after he went to the boarding house, stating
that the child now looked malnourished.
The victim who recounted some of the abuses he was subjected to,
alleged that he was forced to starve for days, beaten for
bedwetting, and also sent to a hostel for senior students where he
was also maltreated.
The video resulted in the suspension of the principal of the
school by the authorities while the Akwa Ibom state government has
launched an investigation into the incident.
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Mrs Okezie had agreed to speak with Channels Television
on the incident but later stopped picking calls from our
correspondent over threats and pressure from undisclosed
quarters.
The school which is located along the Idoro Road in Uyo is
currently under lock and key.
In an interview with Channels Television, a sociologist at the
University of Uyo, Dr Aniekan Brown, analysed the short-term and
long-term psychological impact of the incident and the steps to be
taken in the circumstance.
He said the ugly incident could discourage the victim and other
children from going to school, adding that the long-term effects
could mar the victim’s future if not properly managed.
Brown, who is also the coordinator of the Academic Staff Union
of Universities (ASUU), Calabar Zone, commended the state
government for setting up a panel to investigate the case.
He called for more vigilance by the management of schools to
properly monitor the activities of students to prevent an
occurrence of such an ugly incident.
The Deeper Life High School, which has 21 campuses across the
country with its headquarters in Lagos, is owned by a Pentecostal
church – Deeper Christian Life Ministry.