The under-aged sexual harassment scandal currently rocking Queens College Lagos is one that no one would be proud of .
As one of the best public schools in the country, having been established on October 10 1927, long before the independence of Nigeria and having produced such people as Mrs Suzanne Iroche (former CEO of Finbank). No one doubts that Queens College has stood the test of time and represents one of the best run public schools in the country .
It is against this backdrop that the alleged under-aged sexual harassment of a JSS2 female student in the school by a lecturer in the school by name Mr. Olaseni Osifala is distasteful and appalling to say the least .
From reports, Osifala is alleged to be a pedophile that has been in the habit of sexually harassing the under-aged girls he is employed and paid to protect. In the present contemporary world, where such cases are not to be treated lightly , Mr. Osifala is in danger of losing his job and sued to court with under-aged sexual charges pressed against him.
The problem with the case is that the petitioner of the case against Mr. Osifala is still faceless and not yet ready to be revealed. Therefore, the case is on the verge of being swept under the carpet as the petitioner and mother of the abused JSS2 girl is yet to press charges against the teacher , instead preferring to use bloggers to expose the accused . To add to the woes of the teacher is the fact that the Old Girls Association of the school, have confirmed the news that the accused has long being in the habit of sexually assaulting teenagers in his care as their private investigation have confirmed .
The Nigerian Police have not been left out, as the have invited both the teacher and principal Dr. Lami Amodu for interrogation last week . The main issue hindering the case is that it cannot go far until the accused comes out in open to press charges and prove that the teacher is really an under-aged sex offender . This is because, as it stands Mr. Osifala is "innocent until proven guilty by the court of law". If truly the accused is as bad as he is painted , one only has to imagine how many innocent victims he has led astray and destroyed, taking into account how long his habit has lasted . Under-aged sexual harassment is something that must be condemned and should never be made light of. While our society might view the victim in another light and even try to stereotype her , it should be noted that in order to bring the justice to the victim , prevent a further occurrence and also set example to potential sexual offenders, the accused needs to come out of hiding and help bring justice to hundreds of underaged that might have been abused by the person that should have protected them (Mr. Osifala ).
Finally, the school should be slated as Mr. Osifala should be suspended until investigations into the case is concluded . Allowing Mr. Osifala to continue to function in his capacity as a teacher in the prestigious school may slow down investigation or pervert justice . Cases like this should be thoroughly dealt with to rid the society of such lurking pedophile .
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