The wide outrage that trailed the recent sex video of some students of the upscale, Chrisland School while on a Sports trip to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, awoke in many Nigerian parents the pent-up frustrations of parenting and disciplining teenage and even younger wards. Who is to blame, Parents, Schools or Government? All three, it seems. Zainab Suleiman Okino and Edoamaowo Udeme discuss the matters arising in respect of the Chrisland matter, especially as such deviant behaviour seems to be prevalent in many schools. They x-ray the undeniable rot that currently pervades our secondary educational institutions, while Onyekachi Umah examines the age of culpability of young Nigerian offenders, vis-à-vis the various criminal laws across the country
Teenage Sex Scandal and the Burden of Parenthood
Zainab Suleiman Okino
Introduction
After its initial knee-jerk reaction and almost two weeks of blame-game, the Lagos State Government ordered the reopening of Chrisland Schools, perhaps in realisation that, although it takes a village to raise a child – and that includes the school environment, the foundation of that training starts with the home, that is the parents.
The school was shut down over controversial sexual acts involving minors/students of the school, in far away Dubai. The action of the Lagos State Government won’t (and shouldn’t) stop investigations into the case, but at least, it won’t retard the progress of examination classes and the over 70 other students on the same trip who were not tainted by the naughty few.
What happened in Dubai is a peek into the moral crisis facing us, an indication that something has gone wrong with our society, and in the kind of training we give our children. In fairness, we all share in the blame; however individual family values cannot be discountenanced too, in how a child behaves at home and out of the home.
Background
Chrisland Schools had organised the students for the World School Game (WSG) in Dubai with another Nigerian representative, St. Saviours School, Ikoyi. The WSG had over 900 students from across the world for U-11, U-13 and U-15 participating, with the game “providing an opportunity to showcase the very best in athletics, swimming and football on the world stage”.
A Chrisland learner, Durowoju Temiloluwa emerged the Most Valuable Athlete in the (U-13) event. Sadly, this moment of glory for Chrisland’s youngster, has now been overshadowed by the highly embarrassing display by another minor involved in an erotic sexual act that has since gone viral.
Matters Arising
Even though the school can take responsibility for what went wrong, the parents of the girl have more questions to answer. The raising and training of a child start from the family unit, and from the way the girl acted like a professional in that video, it is obvious that something had earlier gone awry with her upbringing, in form of sexual abuse/molestation without the parents noticing. It soon turned out that the girl had social media handles where she showcased her erotic dance steps, body display and had garnered over 20 thousand likes and clicks.
How did she get to that level you might ask? I do not know either, except to hazard some guesses. In the name of civilisation, love for their kids, and exposing them to the best money can buy, some parents literally spoil their children with expensive gifts, including gadgets such as iPhone and Samsung loaded with data, which invariably expose the affected children to the endless possibilities of the digital era. It is obvious that the minors in the video had such gadgets, yet these are kids that do not work or earn money.
And because the very girl in question and her ‘co-actors’ are minors who deserve sympathy, counselling and psychological evaluation, who else do you blame but their parents, especially mothers, in the light of the new revelations that have come up.
The Chrisland Schools’ authority was said to have accommodated the girls on the 11th floor, and the boys at the fourth floor. They had about five chaperons checking/guiding them, and that fateful day, they had done same, only for the girl to sneak out to the boys’ fourth floor room after midnight. This girl, in particular, was already out of control at home obviously.
One of the parents, a celebrity who accompanied her son to the event, Shola Ogudu, has alleged that the girl belongs to a clique known for nasty things, while advising parents to pay attention to what their children are exposed to.
“I accompanied my son to represent his school at the just concluded WSG, and I can say for a fact that the (the girl) in question was definitely not raped. I remember vividly the shock in my son’s face, when he was telling me about a video some other kids were watching.” He said “Mum, I couldn’t stand the video, I had to excuse myself. He said the gist circulating was that the girl and her clique played a game of truth or dare, of which this particular girl couldn’t stop the ‘dares’…seeing this post now and the twist of it all, I just couldn’t take it, because I know for a fact how very strict the teachers on the trip were, and blaming such immorality and negligence on the school is unfair, because it definitely wasn’t”; adding that even if the teachers break their backs for kids, “charity begins at home”.
The Blame Game
Before we blame the school, this well-worn out cliché should not be lost on all of us. Where did we get it wrong? Why did we suddenly forget our primary duties of being responsible parents; mothering, guiding, mentoring, helping children to decipher and teaching subtle sex education. Instead, we run from pillar to post in pursuit of money that may later constitute a problem to those children.
For her, it is either there is abuse or pornography around their home, or there is a disconnect between mother and child, and so what the girl did in Dubai is, to her, just normal. How unfortunate indeed, that social media is now amplifying bad parenting and decadence.
A quick internet check reveals the rich, excellent pedigree of Chrisland Schools which has produced a lot of today’s important individuals, parents too and brilliant minds in its over 45 years of operation, who themselves have been good ambassadors of the school.
So, before we crucify Chrisland Schools, let us look inwards and ask appropriate questions. Have we done our bit as parents, and if this girl was abused, why is it that the parents never discovered it? And this by no means, is not saying that the school should not do more. They have to.
Government and Private Schools
Besides, has the Government also done enough overseeing of the proliferation of private schools? Of course, the answer is no.
Private schools have become ubiquitous, because Government has since abdicated its responsibility. Government is near absent in our daily lives, and private schools fill the vacuum created by their absence; after all, most parents patronising private schools are themselves products of well-run public schools. That was then.
Anyway, here is another opportunity for introspection and the propriety of sex education in schools, and age-appropriate discussions between parents and their children. Above all, no child should have access to modern gadgets (especially android phones) and data (except for the purpose of assignments), until after their secondary school education. There are also parental control features on these phones making the rounds. We should endeavour to read and practicalise it, in our homes.
For the ‘limited access’ approach, so far, this has worked in my household and a few others I know. This is also a wake-up call for us to imbibe in our kids, moral instruction, decorum and religious teachings.
Zainab Suleiman Okino, Syndicated Columnist
Chrisland School Sex Sandal, Interrogating the Issues
Edoamaowo Udeme
Background
Nigerians woke up on 17th April, 2022 to see a live child pornographic video, perpetrated by Nigerian children from a Lagos private school known as Chrisland Schools, who were taken to Dubai on a school sports trip.
Initially, the story from the mother of the main face in the video, was that she was drugged and gang-raped by five boys, but the video clip seemed to reveal otherwise. They participants were both enjoying the act and talking, even when another schoolmate complained that she couldn’t sleep because of the noise they were making. The t-shirt of the mate gave them away. Worst still, a social media handle of the supposed victim showed her having several followers on a handle called Likee.
Then, more confusion came as the battle for her age surfaced, while the mother claimed her child is 10 years old, those who watched the sex video and her social handle name badgurl4k swore that she was far above that age, as she supposedly handled both like a professional.
Reactions
Sadly, instead of Nigerians condemning the social handle, the about initial 2000 likes, jumped to 10,000 likes overnight. I won’t be surprised if over 9000 overnight followers, were grown adult males. The backlashing came flooding, until the account was deleted a few days after.
While some channeled their anger towards the school which saw the Lagos State Government ordering it’s closure till further notice, some channeled theirs to the mother of the girl, complaining of her being a bad influence and pretentious mother.
If she were truly 10, someone somewhere messed that child up, either from home or school, the way she handled sex, that wasn’t her 5th time. Someone corrupted her, her parents, close family members, relatives, cousins, uncles, househelps, someone is in the know of why the simply innocent girl turned to being a part of such acts.
Then I asked, why are the two men in the picture not mentioned? I mean the boy in the video, and the girl’s father? If we are talking about parental neglect, where is the girl’s father?
Supervisors Indeed!
I also asked, why on earth would anybody allow a minor go on a school trip outside the country, whether supervised or not? Even if it were free, my child can never participate in such an outing. Call me archaic or old school, I don’t care. They said they travelled with their supervisors, if the “school supervisors” were doing their work, would that incident have taken place?
It beats me hollow when some parents leave parental responsibilities to teachers, who also have their own personal responsibilities. Teachers, on the other hand, require regular training, retraining on children’s mental health, to be able to detect a child’s attitude that requires attention.
But, are the teachers being trained by school owners? No, some school owners are “Shylocks”, making them work till they drop, making them work like elephants but eat like ants; so, teachers and supervisors survive by keeping “secrets” of and for the children, some to gain a few coins from the rich children, others to stay safe and not loose their jobs.
Drugs?
We also left the issue of drugs out of the story, if there were indeed drugs, where did the minors get it from? Did they fly it from Lagos to Dubai, or did they purchase it there? Who sold drugs to minors? Who was their middleman? How did they obtain it? Did they purchase it online? Certainly, some adults were involved, but who? A million questions unanswered.
Pornography
Rich parents are not only competing about the kind of clothes and shoes their children wear, the are also competing about which latest iPhone to purchase and give their children. So, when we are suspecting a child’s attitude towards sex, don’t forget that some of them sleep and wake up with pornography on their phones, they watch, masturbate, and practice the real thing while watching.
The school standard has also become a case study. I am yet to see a child being asked to withdraw from a private school because of low grades, and they are a lot of them. The school owners concern isn’t the child’s grades, it is monies being paid by parents, especially the rich ones.
I remember when we started our quest for justice for Keren-Happuch Akpagher, a 14 year old of a high class private school, Premier Academy Lugbe, Abuja, who died from sepsis caused by a used condom found inside her vagina. On interviewing sources, I was told that at a time, a student once told a teacher “My one term fees can pay your salary for one year, if you don’t take your time, I will make you beg like a mad woman on the street”.
Yes! Such audacity is found everywhere, in such schools. How about teachers being slapped by students! Several times, I can’t count how many teachers have been asked by school owners to kneel down and apologise to parents, or write.
Edoamaowo Udeme, Founder and Executive Director, Network Against Domestic Violence Foundation
When Minors are Criminals in Nigeria
Onyekachi Umah
1. Introduction
With the growing rate of sexual abuse, domestic violence, online pornography, poor parenting and weak school administrators, it is common to find minors engaging in bullying, sexual activities, stealing, secret cults and other crimes. This work examines the position of the law, where the alleged offenders are minors (children). It answers these questions: “are all minors free from criminal responsibility”; “Who is a Minor ’; “Minors as Criminal Offenders”; “the Culpability of Minors in Nigeria”; “the Culpability of Minors in States in Southern Nigeria”; “the Culpability of Minors in States in Northern Nigeria”; and “the Culpability of Minors in Lagos State, South of Nigeria”.
2. Who is a Minor (Child)?
The English language is the official language of Nigeria and the Nigerian legislature, courts and Lawyers in Nigeria. However, the ordinary meaning of English words may not explain words when used in legal documents and laws. The Cambridge English Dictionary defines a “minor” as “someone who is too young to have the legal responsibilities of an adult”. While the dictionary definition is correct, in law, “minor” will be better understood if age is attached to the description.
According to the Child Rights Act, a child means “… a person under the age of eighteen years”. This same meaning is adopted by all the Child Rights Laws enacted by States across Nigeria. Some States in the Northern part of Nigeria, have refused to pass a Child Rights Law. Hence, in States in Nigeria where there is no Child Rights Law, there may be no clear basis to argue that 18 years is the age of maturity.
While the Criminal Code did not use the word “minor”, it referred to a “child and young person” in several contexts, as a living person from birth to about 16 years old.
The Penal Code Laws provide that a child is a living person at birth and less than 18 years old, and also made reference to the “Children and Young Persons Act”.
In the Children and Young Persons Act, a person less than 14 years old is a child, and a person that is 14 years old but less than 18 years old is a young person.
The Criminal Law of Lagos State defines a child as a child under the Child’s Rights Law of Lagos State. And the Child’s Rights Law of Lagos State defines a child to be a person below 18 years old. This pattern is common among the States that have Child Rights Laws, and amended their State criminal laws. The concerned States and their laws are discussed below.
3. Minors as Criminal Offenders
Rape, violence, and all other forms of sexual offences are criminal offences. So, this section focuses on rape and all other criminal offences, where the offenders (suspected offenders) are minors (persons less than 18 years old).
Prior to the amalgamation of the Southern Protectorate and the Northern Protectorate in 1914 to birth Nigeria, the nations on the two sides had their unique systems and traditions. To date, this is clear in the two different criminal laws that operate in the Southern and Northern parts of Nigeria.
The Criminal Code is the criminal law operational in the Southern part of Nigeria, while the Penal Code operates in the Northern part of Nigeria. The two criminal laws, have their points of similarities and differences. Popular among them is the fact that adultery is an offence in the Northern part of Nigeria, but not an offence in the Southern part of Nigeria.
It is important to mention that both Federal and non-Federal (State) offences in South Nigeria are contained in the Criminal Code Act, although some States in the South have presently enacted State Criminal laws that merely focus on the State offences already provided in the Criminal Code Act. Only a few States in the Southern part of Nigeria have repealed their State Criminal Code Laws, and enacted radically different State Criminal Laws. In Northern Nigeria,, the Federal offences are contained in the Penal Code (Northern States) Federal Provisions Act (No. 25 of 1960). Federal offences include treason, sedition, and customs offences. The non-Federal offences are contained in the various Penal Code Laws operating in States in Northern Nigeria.
In both Southern and Northern Nigeria, there are special provisions for minors. The laws believe that there are specific ages for human beings to acquire the ability to understand good and bad, and differentiate evil from good. Yes, the laws could not close their eyes to human psychology. This is also the point where many Nigerians erroneously conclude that, minors cannot be held responsible for crimes. This common belief may be wrong, as the succeeding paragraphs will reveal.
4. The Culpability of Minors in Nigeria
Across many States in Nigeria, minors are persons below 18 years. Contrary to popular belief, not all minors are free from paying for their (crimes) sins. There are special minors of certain ages and capacities that are free like air, and will always get away with any crime. Also, their location (States) in Nigeria, may matter. Hence, we will expose the minors that cannot be held responsible for their crimes, according to the relevant locations (States) in Nigeria.
1. The Culpability of Minors in States in Southern Nigeria
In the States in the Southern part of Nigeria, where the Criminal Code is operational, the Criminal Code provides that a person that is less than seven years old, cannot be held responsible for any offence. This means that children from ages zero to less than seven years, cannot be held responsible for any crime they commit. Such minors are free to do anything they wish, and they will get away with it. They are saints by law, and not necessarily by conduct; statutory saints.
It also provides that a person that is below 12 years old cannot be held responsible for a crime, unless it is proven that the person at the time of the crime, had the capacity to know that he/she should not have committed such an offence. This means that children from age seven to eleven years, cannot be held responsible for any crime they committed, so far as they had no understanding that they should not commit such an offence.
The focus on the ages below 12 in the Southern part of Nigeria means that although minors are from ages zero to less than 18, any minor that is 12 years or above will be fully responsible for his/her criminal actions.
For clarity, the Section 30 of the Criminal Code is reproduced below:
“A person under the age of seven years is not criminally responsible for any act or omission.
A person under the age of twelve years is not criminally responsible for an act or omission, unless it is proved that at the time of doing the act or making the omission, he had capacity to know that he ought not to do the act or make the omission.
A male person under the age of twelve years is presumed to be incapable of having carnal knowledge.”
So, where a child that is less than 12 years old is alleged to have committed an offence in a State in the Southern part of Nigeria, the defence team can easily get justice for the child by proving the age of the child, and that the child lacked the capacity to understand the crime at the time of the crime. This may be a downside, for smart and intelligent minors that are less than 12 years. It is important to note that few States (Like Lagos State) have dumped the Criminal Code and enacted their own unique State criminal laws. Some of the States and their laws will be discussed below.
2. The Culpability of Minors in States in Northern Nigeria
For States in Northern Nigeria, ages seven and twelve are important in proving that a minor is guilty of a crime. The Penal Code Laws provide that a person that is less than seven years old cannot be held responsible for any offence. Whether the less than seven years old minor has the capacity to know that he/she should not commit the offence, is immaterial.
Furthermore, the Penal Code Laws also provide that a person that is seven years old but less than 12 years old, cannot be held responsible for any offence unless it can be proven that the person has the maturity to understand the nature and consequences of the offence.
The focus on the ages below 12 in the States in the Northern part of Nigeria means that although minors are from ages zero to less than 18, any minor that is 12 years or above will be fully responsible for his/her criminal actions.
Section 50 of the Penal Code Laws states;
“No act is an offence which is done- Act of child.
(a) by a child under seven years of age; or
(b) by a child above seven years of age but under twelve years of age who has not attained sufficient maturity of understanding to judge the nature and consequence of that act”.
3. The Culpability of Minors in Lagos State, South of Nigeria
Lagos State is legislatively ahead of all States in Nigeria. Lagos State often enacts innovative laws, that other States in Nigeria and the Federal Government of Nigeria emulate after some years.
Ahead of many (if not all) States in the Southern part of Nigeria, Lagos State was the first State to enact its own State Criminal Law, that departed from the Criminal Code that operated across the Southern part of Nigeria. The Criminal Law of Lagos State, introduced several innovative tools and processes.
On 8 August, 2011, Lagos State enacted the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011 and repealed the Criminal Code Law that was earlier in operation in Lagos State.
In Lagos State, a minor/child is a person that is less than 18 years old. However, only children that are less than 10 years old in Lagos State, have zero criminal responsibility for their criminal actions and inactions. Hence, a child that is less than 10 years old in Lagos State, cannot be held responsible for any crime. The Criminal Law of Lagos State, unlike many other criminal laws in Nigeria, does not provide that the child should have or not have the capacity to understand the crime. It simply says that, a person below 10 years old has no criminal responsibility in Lagos State.
Section 30 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, provides;
“A person under the age of ten (10) years is not criminally responsible for any act or omission.”
The focus on the ages below 10 years in Lagos State, means that although minors are from ages zero to less than 18, any minor that is 10 years or above will be fully responsible for his/her criminal actions.
5. Conclusion
While minors are persons below 18 years old, not all minors are free from criminal responsibility in Nigeria. This work has traced the definition of minors through Federal and State laws. The location of a minor, affects the criminal responsibility of the minor. Some States have placed the age of zero criminal responsibility at seven and 10 years. Many States have also chosen 12 years as the possible age of zero criminal responsibility, with the condition that it must be proven that the child has no capacity to understand his/her crime at the time of the crime.
Onyekachi Umah, Esq., LL.M, ACIArb (UK)
