The 11-year-old boy said to have been sexually abused at the Deeper Life High School, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has been moved to the Sexual Assault Referral Center in the state for further medical investigation, the Akwa Ibom State Government said on Wednesday. The state government also transferred investigation of the incident to the police.
The Commissioner for Information in the state, Ini Ememobong, who disclosed this in a statement, said the government is committed to unraveling the truth in the sexual abuse allegation and would “prosecute anybody found culpable of any wrongdoing.”
Mr Ememobong said the victim’s parents and other interested parties gave their consent for the boy to be taken to the referral centre which is at the Immanuel General Hospital, Eket.
There had been much expectation from the public that the Akwa Ibom government was going to release a report of their investigation soon, after the Commissioner for Education, Enobong Mbobo said on Monday she has submitted her report and that the state government would make a statement soon.
The authorities of the Deeper Life High School told the public on Tuesday to be on the lookout for a report of the investigation which would be released by the Akwa Ibom State Government.
The Akwa Ibom government in the Wednesday press statement appealed to the public to be patient “for a thorough investigation to be carried out by the Police and other relevant institutions on the matter.”
“The State Government will upon receipt of the reports take necessary actions thereto,” the statement added.
Interestingly, the police in Akwa Ibom said it was the state government that is investigating the case.
“The state government is investigating,” the police spokesperson in Akwa Ibom, Odiko MacDon, told PREMIUM TIMES, Wednesday evening, before the government statement was made public.
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“Preliminary information on our disposal is that report concerning that will be released very soon (by the state government),” Mr MacDon said.
Mr MacDon said when the state government report is out, the police would study it to assess if there is any “criminal culpability.”
The police spokesperson, nevertheless, said the Criminal Investigation Department of the police is investigating the allegation at the Deeper Life High School.
The police in Uyo began interrogating the parties involved in the allegation, but adjourned it because of the holidays.
