Enugu reopens school where teacher violates pupil, mother of victim cries

Juliana Francis

Mrs Jennifer, whose three-year-old toddler was alleged to have been sexually violated by a female teacher, Favour Okoro, in the Tender Link School in Trans-Ekulu, Enugu State, has broken down and wept in a trending video as she narrated and showed that her daughter’s condition was worsening.

This was even as the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions had allegedly given the nod for the school to reopen.

Also, it was said that between three to four other pupils have stepped forward to narrate how Favour Okoro allegedly sexually violated them.

On Monday, December 11, 2023, Jennifer rushed her baby to hospital following intense vagina bleeding, where she was allegedly told that the child’s womb might have been damaged.

According to Jennifer, she was in the market the day when she received a frantic call from her maid, screaming that the toddler had started bleeding again.

The agitated mom dashed home, bundled the child and rushed to the hospital, where she was asked to take the child for a test and scan.

Jennifer fretted that the child’s womb might have been affected by what she was told following the scan result. This news caused her to further break down, weeping as if her heart was breaking.

A Lagos-based medical practitioner, Dr Ken, said that judging from the video, the toddler now has what is called vagina prolapse.

He added, “The pelvic floor muscles are weak and unable to carry the organ. For sure, the muscle in the pelvic can no longer hold the womb. The Uterus is falling out due to the force of ‘penetration or insertion.’ It is also an indicator that the teacher had been molesting the child for a long time.

“The teacher in question does not need to be put in prison or remanded in prison custody. What she needs is treatment, she’s sick. She needs to be attended to by a clinical psychologist and a psychiatrist. If not, she will continue to carry this act on children.”

Recall that Jennifer’s daughter returned late from school after she had called repeatedly, asking why her daughter was taking so long to be brought home by the school bus. She was told the school bus developed a fault.

The child had told her mom some moments after she came home that she wanted to urinate. As soon as she stooped to urinate, blood started gushing out of her private, causing her distraught mother to scream in panic. The child would later identify and mention a female teacher, Favour Okoro as the perpetrator.

A Child Rights Advocate organization, Ambassadors for Peace and Enlightenment Foundation, which is also under the network of the Advocates for Children and Vulnerable Persons Network (ACVPN), has stepped into the matter, demanding justice for the toddler.

The Chief Executive Officer of Ambassadors for Peace and Enlightenment Foundation, Prince Saviour Iche, said the paramount thing should be for justice for the abused toddler and traumatised mother, not for the school to reopen.

This was even as Jennifer alleged that the founder of the school, Ngozi, had been boasting that she had won because her school had been reopened.

Jennifer said, “My friend called me that Ngozi Ezebeatu was singing and dancing with drummers over the reopening of her school.

“She told me that the woman was raking and shouting, meanwhile our next court sitting will be on the 13th of December, which is this Wednesday.

“My friend called me that the owner of the school Ngozi Ezebeatu had a Parents Teachers Association (PTA) meeting with them because I had been removed from the WhatsApp group. So there was a PTA meeting where the proprietress appreciated all the parents who were supporting her during the case and appreciated them for showing her moral support.

“She told the parents that since the school had been reopened, the school Christmas party would be held on Wednesday 13th of December which was supposed to be the same day for our court sitting concerning my daughter’s defilement case.

“She told them that even if she would not be at the school on that Wednesday, she wanted the party to still hold so that she would show me and my evil supporters that I had bribed, that she was greater than all those people supporting me.

“She said that all the people I paid to be uploading on social media; that I should go ahead; that I couldn’t do anything.  My friend also told me that the woman mentioned at the PTA meeting that they now have a new connection and that it was this new connection that assisted her and helped in getting her school reopened.

“She further told them at the PTA meeting that the new connection assured her that no matter what, the person who molested my child, that is Okoro Nnenna’s Favour, promised that the teacher would soon be free and allowed to go

“She assured the parents that before the end of this very month, Favour Okoro would be a free person. She said that the way she reopened the school, was the same way she would release Favour Okoro and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.

“This is the latest update I have. Yesterday (Monday) I went to the market; I was at the market when my house help started calling me repeatedly, shouting that my baby had started bleeding again.

“As it is right now, I am only believing in the Almighty God for His mercy and justice and His intervention. The woman bragged she was using a higher connection now than mine. Is only God Almighty that will fight for me.”

Saviour Iche said that the child’s mother was in agony, adding that he could not understand why the proprietor was further compounding her pains by allegedly bragging and singing that she has powerful connections and would use the connection to get the alleged violator to walk free.

Saviour said: “She said she would do everything to get the teacher who violated the toddler released. She has also fixed the school end-of-year party for Wednesday 13^th of December, which is the day of the next court hearing.

“My take here is that, with the proprietress’s utterances and behaviour, it is clear she is not being empathic. The fact that the school has reopened, notwithstanding that more pupils are coming out to say they were also violated is worrisome.

“I still maintained that the school should not have been reopened, while the baby was still bleeding and her mom still in agony. The case was taken to court and later the case was sent to the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), I feel the ideal thing should have been for the DPP to wait for its advice to come out, instead of rushing to reopen the school.”

When our reporter reached out to Ngozi Okoye in charge of the DPP, she denied instructing anyone to reopen the school, stressing she had no such powers.

According to her, when Jennifer reached out to her, to complain that the school had been reopened, she told her that she was in support of it, adding that it would strengthen their case.

She said, “I call Jennifer every day to empathise with her and I have promised her that we will get justice for her child. She told me that someone saw people singing and dancing, saying they had won because the school had reopened, but I told her not to be distracted.

“There are other corroborating reports from victims in the school and also Jennifer’s daughter’s story has not changed. I told her that it was good for the school to reopen, first, it is not good for other pupils to suffer because of something that happened to one person.

“Secondly, if the school is open, we will be able to get more information and find out things. I had initially thought that the school was shut down to frustrate the investigation and case.”

Okoye distanced herself from having anything to do with the reopening of the Tender Link School, stressing that she had no power to shut down or reopen it.

To authenticate her statement and ensure her integrity was not impinged, she forwarded a video to our reporter, to prove she had no such power, but the video also further proved that the school was reopened by the government.

The human rights activist, Saviour, has described the Enugu State Government’s reopening of the school as, “insensitive.”

In the 41-second video, a woman, who said that she was representing an honourable commissioner named, Professor Ndubueze, explained that she came to unseal the Tender Link School.

Addressing a crowd of people, she said, “Good afternoon everyone, my honourable commissioner, Professor Ndubueze asked me to inform you that His Excellency, Dr Peter Ndubuisi has approved the reopening of your school. The honourable commissioner asked me to come and do it on his behalf, so I’m here now to open, and unseal the school.”

The declaration elicited jubilation among the crowd.

Our reporter called the proprietress of the school, but she did not pick up her calls, did not respond to SMS and did not reply to her WhatsApp chats.

Ngozi Okoye, who is angry over allegations levelled against her, said of the video in a WhatsApp chat: “I don’t know the lady in the video, but I guess from what she said, she is representative of the Commissioner for Education. She came to unseal what they sealed. I did not hear my name being mentioned in the video.

“I’m just the head of a department in the ministry. I don’t even have the power to shut down my department in the ministry, not to talk of a school. The powers lie with the supervising ministry which is the Ministry of Education.”