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The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate alleged molestation and rape of minors at the FCT School of the Blind, Jabi, Abuja. This was sequel to a unanimous adoption of a motion of Urgent Matter of Public Importance moved by Blessing Onuh(SDP-Benue) at plenary on Wednesday.
            Moving the motion, Ms Onuh recalled that on July 16, Shina Peller moved a motion on the need to address the scourge of rape on the floor of the house. Ms Onuh said that not long after a resolution against the rape of minors was passed by the House, a worse form of rape and assault against blind girls was uncovered at the FCT School of the blind located at Jabi district of Abuja. The legislator said that officials of FCT who visited the school were shocked at the revelations made by the students and teachers. She alleged that one blind and another visually impaired teacher regularly raped and assaulted girls at the schooI. According to Onuh, a teacher in the school, one Ebenezer Olateju, has since become infamous for allegedly leading blind students into hotel rooms to drug them before raping them. The lawmaker said the school authority had confirmed six reported cases of rape against Mr Olateju. She also alleged that another blind teacher, Ilo Chukwuma, was found to be notorious in fiddling with the breasts and other sensitive parts of blind girls.
            In a related motion by Musa Pali (APC-Bauchi), he said there was a report at the school for the Deaf and Dumb in the Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Mr Pali said the school, which accommodated vulnerable and defenceless boys and girls of five to six years old, was being regularly invaded by suspected cultists who abducted and molested the children. According to him, those children have special needs and cannot easily or freely communicate the abuses and other forms of ill-treatment meted to them. The lawmaker said the Federal Ministry of Education had been intimated of the serious brutality and sodomy going on in the school. He said the Permanent Secretary in the ministry led a delegation to the school and confirmed the incidents. The lawmaker said that since concluding investigation into the matter by the ministry, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and the Nigeria Police Force, no action had been taken on the matter. The house then resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to visit the school and obtain first-hand information on the matter and also interface with the ministry, FCTA and the police on the outcome of their investigations into the matter. The green chambers urged the Inspector-General of Police and the Commandant General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to provide adequate security in schools across the country. (NAN)