The police in Plateau State have arrested a teacher with Bright Kids Academy, Barkin Ladi, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of the state, Chukwudi Boniface, for raping and impregnating a 12-year-old primary three pupil in the school.

It was gathered that the teacher had in December last year organised an extra-mural lesson, which was attended by only four pupils, including the victim.

Boniface, after giving them a class work, told the victim to wait for him in the next classroom with her book, where he met her and forcibly had carnal knowledge of her.

The pupil, while narrating her ordeal to reporters yesterday in Jos, said: “My teacher called me to come close and held my hands and then he forced me down and removed my cloths and had sex with me. I cried but nobody came to help me. So after he finished, he warned me not to tell anybody and said if I did, he would deal with me severely.”

A source said the girl is an orphan and because the teacher had warned her not to mention it to anyone, she kept it to herself “until a few months later when we begin to notice some pregnancy signs, and after thorough investigation, she confessed.”

Confirming the arrest to journalists yesterday in Jos, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Felicia Anselm, said the teacher had been arrested and was in custody for further investigation.

“The man has been arrested and investigations are ongoing, and he will be charged to court,” she added.

In a related development, a police sergeant (names withheld) has been arrested in Anambra State for allegedly raping a 13-year-old daughter of a popular pastor at Nkpor in Idemili Council Area of the state.

The young girl, said to be two months pregnant told her parents last Saturday who was responsible for her pregnancy.

According to a close family source, who does not want to be quoted, the girl told her parents that the policeman had threatened her against telling anyone about the affair.

The source said the threat made her keep the secret until few days ago when she complained to her mother about some symptoms, which after thorough investigation led to her confession of being pregnant.

According to reports, the policeman initially denied the allegation and was supported by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), which made the victim’s parents to petition a human rights group and the state Commissioner of Police.

After the petition, the policeman was said to have accepted responsibility and agreed to take care of the girl till delivery.

He promised to be giving the girl’s family N20,000 monthly for the girl’s up keep, which the father turned down, demanding N300,000 to enable him take proper care of her daughter till delivery.

In the girl’s statement to her parents, she was quoted as saying that the policeman ordered her at gunpoint to have sex with him on her way from school, a claim the suspect denied, saying the action was carried out mutually between them and not by force.

When contacted, the state PPRO, Emeka Chukwuemeka, confirmed that the command received such report but said investigations were ongoing with a view to ascertaining the level of culpability of the said policeman.

The command image maker stated that proper investigation in the matter was necessary, because the state Commissioner of Police, Usman Gwary, does not tolerate acts of indiscipline by his officers and men.

According to him, “The matter is under investigation and I will brief the press on it later.”

•Pieced together from reports in THISDAY and Vanguard. Cartoon courtesy of Vanguard.

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