News Update: Virginity test: Ogun suspends principal

Entrance of the school. Inset: Oladeojobi

The Ogun State Government has suspended the Principal, Ajuwon Senior High School, Ajuwon, Ifo Local Government Area, Ogun State, Olufunke Oladeojobi, for allegedly conducting virginity test on her pupils.
Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Segun Odubela, told our correspondent on the phone on Wednesday that Oladeojobi had been suspended.
Odubela said, “A five-man committee comprising officials of the Ministry of Education and the state Teaching Service Commission has been set up to investigate Oladeojobi.
“The committee has been mandated to report back to the government in 14 days. Right now, all I can tell you is that we have suspended her pending the conclusion of investigation.”
PUNCH Metro learnt that the government’s resolution came after Odubela and senior officials of the ministry quizzed the principal for over two hours on Wednesday.
A source told our correspondent that she was summoned to the ministry after the publication of the story byThe PUNCH.
Our source said, “We were embarrassed when we read the story in The PUNCH on Wednesday. Immediately, relevant parastatals were asked to contact her and ensure that she appeared at the ministry.
“She was quizzed for over two hours and she denied carrying out the test. Rather, she said she only threatened the pupils.
“In view of this, we want to appeal to pupils and their parents to come forward whenever they are invited.”
Odubela, in a statement, added that the government was always concerned about the welfare and interest of students and therefore would not tolerate any act that would compromise their fundamental rights or jeopardise their future.
He said, “We equally believe in the need to maintain discipline in our schools and to follow due process in the handling of this particular case.
“We appeal to the parents of the students involved to be patient and allow us to handle the case as dictated by the law of the land and service rules.”
Oladeojobi, a reverend, was said to have on December 10 invited a nurse to the school to carry out virginity tests on a group of 10 students.
The principal, who the pupils described as a strict disciplinarian, did not seek the consent of the parents/guardians of the pupils before conducting the test.
During the test, it was alleged that the principal and the nurse whose name could not be ascertained dipped their fingers into the pupils’ private part.
But the matter got out of hand when one of the pupils started bleeding after she had been ‘tested.’
Parents of the pupils later stormed the school in protest resulting in the invitation of policemen from Ajuwon Division.
The Divisional Police Officer, Ajuwon Division, Mr. Waheed Yusuf, had on Tuesday confirmed that Oladeojobi was quizzed last week Thursday and Friday.
A police source said she confessed to carrying out the test, saying ‘she was trying to help them.’
When our correspondent contacted Oladeojobi on the telephone on Wednesday, she refused to speak on the matter.
“I don’t have time to give any explanation, please I have a meeting,” she said and hung up.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, said he had yet to be briefed on the incident.
Adejobi, who spoke with our correspondent on the phone on Wednesday, said, “All efforts to reach the DPO to brief me on the incident have proved abortive. So, I can’t give you any update but as soon as I am briefed, I will let you know.”