A private school, Ffad Goshen Academy, Gumei, along Zonkwa road in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State had been closed by the Kaduna State Government following the alleged defilement of a four-year-old student by the school driver.
The driver has been arrested and is now in police custody.
Journalists were told that the four-year-old girl was said to have been violated on the school premises.
“The school proprietress wanted a cover-up because she works with the government and is very powerful,” the girl’s father, Mr Tyinmvak Musa, alleged.
Musa, the father of the girl, said she is his only daughter who wanted to learn how to write.
He explained that his daughter was violated on June 10, 2023, and since then, the proprietress of the school, who was said to be working at the Kaduna Government House, did not visit his family.
He said: “The proprietress said sympathising with my family over our daughter’s predicament will mean her accepting that the girl was violated in her school. Even an invitation from the police for the amicable settlement of the case was rebuffed by her.
“My daughter is hearing and speech impaired but because she was eager to learn how to write, that was why we enrolled her in school so that she could learn. On Friday, June 10, I put her on the school bus with about three other children in the vehicle around 6:30 am that fateful day. When we did not see her around noon, her mother was disturbed.
bus returned and parked in front of our shop. My wife went to the bus to receive our daughter. When I saw the girl, I knew all was not well with her. When I carried her from the mother, she was touching her lower abdomen and bombom demonstrating how she was slapped and penetrated by someone.
“Since she was just coming from school, we were eager to know who must have done that to her in the school. We tried to give her food but she refused. She then slept after a while. Amazingly, when she woke up, she rushed outside to urinate but she urinated on her body and that got me worried because she had never done that before.
“It was when my wife removed her pant and saw blood stain that it dawned on us that someone had capitalised on her condition to defile her. That was how we managed through that night. Then we realised it was long before daybreak.
“The following day, which was Saturday, June 11, we took her to a hospital where a doctor confirmed she was penetrated. At that time, the doctor was trying to push back her womb inside. The girl was groaning, shouting and crying. Tears rolled down freely on our cheeks as we were referred to the General Hospital, Kachia, where another doctor confirmed the absence of hymen, and loss of virginity.
“The doctor prescribed drugs for us and recommended six tests. That was on Sunday, June 12. As we were returning from the General Hospital, Kachia, we went straight to the house of the proprietress of the school, who claimed to be so powerful because she is working in Government House.
“She collected my number and told me that she would get back to us. Along the line, we were shuttling between the school and the hospital. But, when we saw that we were not making progress, we then involved the Police.
“She was not feeling concerned at all. She didn’t even bother to check on the girl. Police then swung into action and arrested three staff of the school – the head teacher, our daughter’s class teacher and the school bus driver. The school bus driver later turned out as the prime suspect.”
Bukola Ajao, lawyer and rights activist, said the girl had described how someone slapped her and used her hand to cover her mouth and had sexual intercourse with her.
“I am following up on the case to ensure that justice was served on the culprit. The only suspect with the state police command is the school driver. We met a Deputy Commissioner of Police who referred us back to the Gender Unit. The matter has been referred to the Legal Department,” the lawyer said.
The closure
Speaking to journalists, yesterday, the Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development, Hijaya Hafsat Baba, said the school closure was to allow proper investigation into the matter, adding that the state government would bear the cost of the correctional surgery following the defilement of the girl.
According to the commissioner, “we felt bad because of the circumstances of the child. The girl cannot speak or hear. We saw that she was truly severely damaged. We have gone to the hospital and they would undergo corrective surgery.
“The government of Kaduna State will take responsibility for the surgery because she is our girl. The school has been closed down because it is still under investigation. That school will remain closed until all investigations are concluded and until we get clearance from the court because that girl deserves justice and that is what we are going to do.”
