By Laleye Dipo Minna
A four-year-old girl has identified the 19-year-old member of staff of a private school in Minna, Niger State who abused her in the school toilet last Friday.
The staff, Victor Opute, thought the little girl could not recognise him under any circumstance because of her age.
Opute, according to reports, had lured the little girl to the school toilet where he reportedly abused her.
The incident, it was gathered, leaked to the school authority when the girl was seen crying. She later narrated what happened to the officials of the school.
The school authority, it was learnt, assembled all the male staff in the school for screening purposely to identify who was behind the illicit act.
It was said that of the 19 male members of staff in the school, the search was reduced to three.
The little girl was thereafter asked to identify who molested her out of the three male “suspects” left.
Surprisingly, according to the investigation, the little girl was able to identify Opute as the person who abused her. Opute did not deny committing the offence but blamed it on the devil.
It was at this stage that officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) close to the school were brought in, leading to the arrest of Opute.
The little girl has been taken to the hospital for treatment.
The state Commandant of NSCDC, Mr Philip Ayuba, confirmed the incident, saying the case had been handed over to the state Child Rights Organisation.
Ayuba said that the NSCDC would continue to monitor the case until it reached its logical conclusion.
The NSCDC boss warned school proprietors to be careful about the calibre of staff they employ and the people that enter their school premises.
