Concerned parents, teachers and old students of Methodist Girls High School on Friday protested at the Lagos State Governor’s Office over an alleged sexual abuse case.
The PUNCH had reported that a teacher, Adewale Bakare, was remanded in Kirikiri prison for allegedly defiling a nine-year-old pupil.
The father of the pupil, Mr Adebisi Arewa, also complained that his domestic aides were arrested on Friday.
However, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, denied knowledge of the arrest.
“My security guards and housemaid have been arrested. The police escorted those that arrested them. This is illegal. It shows desperation,” he told our correspondent on the telephone.
The protesters complained about Bakare’s detention, saying that he should be freed.
There was also a protest at the Lagos State Police Command over the matter on Thursday.
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Among the inscriptions on the placards displayed by the protesters 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’.
The PUNCH gathered that Bakare had been remanded in Kirikiri prison pending Lagos State’s Directorate of Public Prosecutions’ advice.
It was learnt that while in prison, Bakare’s wife delivered a pre-matured baby who is currently in the 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.
Counsellor for junior school, Methodist Girls High School, Adesoga Mary, said, “We want justice for Adewale. We appeal to the governor to ensure justice. The governor should intervene. We are here to support him as a colleague that we trust. Why was Bakare denied bail? What is special about the case?”
The lawyer of the protesters, Toyin Taiwo-Ojo, urged the Lagos State Government to execute a court order that Arewa’s children should be taken over from him.
