An 18-year-old female pupil of Fazir-I-Omar Senior High School in Iwaya area of Yaba, Lagos State, has explained how one of her male teachers forced to perform oral sex on him in order to get good marks in his subject.
The pupil, Mary (not real name), who hails from Abia State and resides in Makoko, disclosed that she had barely spent a month at the school when the teacher allegedly asked her to give him oral sex in exchange for good marks
The Senior Secondary School II student narrated to The PUNCH how, she succumbed to the teacher’s pressure on two different occasions, and how the teacher allegedly further demanded for sex if she wanted to pass the subject he teaches.
According to her, the first time she gave the teacher oral sex was when she was 16 years old and in SS1, while the second time was when she was in SS2.
She said, “When I first got to Fazir-I-Omar Senior High School in 2016, I was in SS1. The teacher was the first to come to my class. He is feared by many of us.
“I was seated in the second seat in the third row in a class of about 100 pupils. Anytime he was teaching, he would throw a marker at anyone of us to answer a quiz.”
Mary explained that one day, the teacher threw the marker at her but that, as she couldn’t answer the question, he flogged her with a cane.
The teacher was said to have told them that the syllabus for the first term was voluminous and that each student must pay N30 each for him to make photocopies for them.
The teacher also appointed Mary to be in charge of collecting the money and accounting for the names of pupils who had paid, after which he would make the photocopies and give her to distribute to her classmates.
Mary said during her second term in SS1, she stopped going to the teacher’s office for counsel because some classmates had started accusing her of flirting with him.
She said, “But one day, he called me and asked why I wasn’t coming to his office anymore. He accused me of following bad friends and I responded it wasn’t so.
“I started going to his office again and on a certain day, he asked how many men had slept with me and I told him I wasn’t a virgin. However, I did not tell him that I have been raped thrice before.
“The first time was when I was in the village in Abia State; the second time was in Ibadan; and the third time was in Lagos.”
Mary said the teacher told her that he was going to discuss something important with her the following day. When she got there on the said day, the teacher was busy and asked her to come back.
She added, “He asked me to stay in his office, saying he was still busy. He said I should wait. I waited until around 3.30pm, our closing time. My friends were waiting for me so that we could go home, but he asked them to all go home because he wanted to discuss something important with me.
“He then asked about my family and I told him. I told him my father was deceased and that my mother sold groundnuts. He said I shouldn’t bother my mother with any responsibility and that he was going to help me to graduate in flying colours in exchange for sex.”
Mary said, “He asked if I was wearing underwear that day. I said yes. He said I should go to the toilet and remove it, put it inside my bag and return to his office. Thankfully that day, a female teacher came to his office and I quickly ran out of the school premises.
“The following day, he was cross with me. He asked that I see him later in the day, but I said I wanted to take care of my mother, that she was sick and needed care. He said I was giving him excuses. He said I should never think I could deceive him.”
Mary said that later that day, she was again called to the teacher’s office as no lesson was going on in her class. When she got there, he allegedly ordered her to bring an item out of a cupboard in his office.
She said, “As I got to the cupboard, he stood next to me, unzipped, and ordered me to suck his manhood. I was forced to do it.”
“After I did, he said he wanted to have sex with me. I refused. He said I was too scared. However, I passed his subject that term.”
One day, my class teacher (a female), who is a pastor, called and preached to me. She asked if I was having any issue with anyone in the school, I said no at first, but she asked again, and I said yes. I told her about what I was facing in the hands of my teacher.
“She asked if I was sure of what I was saying, because in the school, everyone knows him to be a strict man who also preaches during morning devotions. I said I knew what I was saying; she then prayed for me and told me not to go to his office again.”
Mary lamented that during her third term in SS1, she faced intense pressure from the teacher to have sex with him, but she refused. She was eventually promoted to SS2.
On resumption day, Mary said she met the teacher at the school’s gate and that was the second time she was forced to give him oral sex.
“He said I had done something wrong and that I should go and kneel down under the table in his office. When he came to the office, he unzipped his trousers and asked me to suck his manhood.
“He again demanded for sex, threatening to make sure I didn’t graduate with my classmates if I refused. Still, I refused.
“He then challenged me that if I had slept with three men in the past, what was holding me. I informed him that I was raped on the three occasions.
“That term, I failed his subject. He commented on my script that there was room for improvement. He told me that the ‘room’ for better performance was the time he was giving me to think of his proposal,” Mary narrated.
The teacher allegedly insisted that she would improve when she’s ready for sex with him.
“He asked why I was behaving ‘strangely’ when some of my classmates were ready to jump at the opportunity. He threatened that I wouldn’t be promoted to SS3 and that I shouldn’t bother reporting him to anyone. He said he wasn’t scared of the educational district and the Lagos State Ministry of Education because, according to him, I had no evidence to implicate him,” Mary added.
Out of fear of not graduating from the school, Mary said she decided to write the female teacher (who preached to her) a letter, seeking her help to process her transfer from the school.
“That was last Saturday. I wrote down my experience on a sheet of paper, asking her to help me. She asked if my mother was aware of my situation, but I told her no. I didn’t know how to tell her,” Mary said.
However, Mary said she has stopped going to church and couldn’t concentrate on her studies.
She also said she wrote to the teens’ coordinator in her church in Makoko detailing her experience.
“I said I couldn’t tell my mother, so he (church official) helped me to tell her. He also promised he would help me get a lawyer in the church so as to get justice. My mother learnt of my plight just this past weekend,” Mary said.
Also speaking on her daughter’s ordeals, Mary’s mother – who pleaded for anonymity – said she noticed some changes in her daughter in 2018, but that each time she asked what was going on, she refused to open up.
“She was not herself, but despite asking her what was going on, she didn’t tell me. I told her I was her mother, she should tell me whatever she was passing through, being the eldest of my three children.
“She was getting lean. I sell groundnut, but I have never sent them to hawk for me. I just want them to face their education. Sometimes, even when we don’t have food at home, I will ensure that I buy any textbook that she needs.”
Mary’s mother asked the authorities to ensure that justice prevails.
However, the school, Fazir-I-Omar Senior High School, has refused members of staff or the principal from speaking to the press.
An official of the Lagos Ministry of Education, who didn’t give his name, said they had been having meetings with the principal and the teacher all day and that they were not allowed to talk to the media.
The official said until investigations are over, neither the principal nor the accused is allowed to speak to the Press.