Residents of Ogunfunmi Street, Akobi
Crescent in the Surulere area of Lagos on Tuesday, dragged a school
teacher, Benedict Ekpenyong, to a police station for allegedly locking
up a female pupil in his room and attempting to ra*pe her.
The
14-year-old pupil, identified only as Blessing, had been lured by
Ekpenyong to his apartment at about 12pm, after which he bolted the door
to the suspicion of his neighbours
It was learnt that Ekpenyong, who was a
teacher in Akintan Grammar School on Akintan Street, Surulere, and
Blessing, also a pupil of the school, were in the room for a few minutes
before a mob surrounded the house and tried to force the teacher’s door
open.
Our correspondent gathered that when the
door was forced open, the mob observed that Ekpenyong had allegedly
attempted to have se x with the pupil, and they began to beat him.
The teacher was reportedly beaten by the mob before he and the pupil were dragged to the Alakara Police Division at about 1pm.
Speaking with PUNCH Metro, a
resident of the street, who declined to give his name, said the police
had visited the teacher’s house to collect exhibits, adding that the
neighbours became angry because Ekpenyong allegedly had a habit of
bringing schoolgirls and locking them up in his room during school
hours.
He said,
“I do not stay on Ogunfunmi Street but I knew when the mob went to the house. For several minutes, people gathered in front of the teacher’s room and asked him to open the door but he refused. Then, they forced it open.“When they did, they found evidence that Ekpenyong might have attempted to ra*pe the girl as the pupil was not the first person that would be brought to the teacher’s room. So, they began to beat him up. It was a major scene on the street.”
Our correspondent learnt that Ekpenyong
had been arrested by the police and detained since Tuesday, while the
girl was taken away by the Domestic and Sex ual Violence Response Team of
the Lagos State Government for medical examination and rehabilitation.
One of the social workers, identified
only as Idowu, said,
“The information we have is that the suspect is notorious in the area for bringing little girls to his house and doing suspicious things with them. He locks them up in his room so nobody gets to hear anything.“On Tuesday, the neighbours were watching him and they sent an alert to the government. By the time we got there, he had stepped out with the girl. The people actually beat him up and dragged both of them to the police station. The girl has been taken and we are making arrangements to move her from the station.”
The Lagos State Police Public Relations
Officer, DSP Joe Offor, confirmed the teacher’s arrest. He added that
the police had visited the scene of the crime and would charge the
suspect to court after investigation was concluded.
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