Sexual assault: Five Falomo schoolboys granted bail

An Igbosere Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on Thursday granted five pupils of Ireti Grammar School, Falomo, Lagos, bail in the sum of N500, 000 following their arraignment for alleged sexual assault. The boys were arraigned before Mr. Patrick Adekomaya by Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP).

The arraignment was closed to the public, but a representative of the Office of the Public Defender held watching brief for the complainants.

The defendants were arraigned on a four-count charge of alleged conspiracy, unlawful assembly, gross indecency by forcing themselves on a female pupil and unlawfully and wilfully damaging her school skirt valued at N1,150.

According to prosecuting counsel, Mr. Olaitan Soetan, the offences contravened Section 35, 44(1) &(4), 134 and 412 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State, 2015 and punishable under same.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Magistrate Adekomaya granted them bail in the sum of N500, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

The sureties must also be civil servants.

Adekomaya directed that the case file be forwarded to the DPP’s office for advice and adjourned the case till June 14.

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, told journalists on Wednesday that one of the five suspects was above 18 years and would be prosecuted publicly.

“Four of them will be taken to juvenile or family court, but one of them, who does not fall into the category of children, will be arraigned in open court,” Owoseni said.

On the night of May 3, a Facebook user, Michale Matthew, posted a story on his page that earlier that evening, he saw two female pupils being harassed and molested by their fellow male pupils, who had just completed their Senior Secondary School Examinations (SSCE).

Matthew described how the pupils chased the girls in the Obalende area of the state, saying the boys tore up the skirt of one of the victims with a pair of scissors.

The Facebook user added that two of the boys attempted to force themselves on the girls to the delight of other boys when he raised the alarm.

(The Nation)