Five pupils of Ireti Grammar School (IGS) in Falomo, Ikoyi, Lagos, were yesterday arraigned before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court for alleged sexual assault.
They were accused of forcing themselves on a female pupil on May 4 on Norman Williams Street, Ikoyi and willfully damaging her skirt.
The boys, with ages between 16 and 17, pleaded not guilty.
Magistrate Patrick Adekomaya granted them N500,000 bail with two sureties each in the like sum. The sureties, he said, must be civil servants.
But a representative of the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) held a watching brief for the complainants during the pupils’ arraignment by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
The pupils are standing trial on a four-count charge of conspiracy, unlawful assembly and gross indecency.
The charge marked E/25/2017 alleged that the offences contravened Section 35, 44(1) &(4), 134 and 412 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
The Magistrate directed that the case file be sent to the DPP’s office for advice and adjourned till June 14.
On Wednesday, Lagos State Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni said they would be prosecuted.
The police chief said: “Four of them will be taken to juvenile or family court, but one of them, who does not fall into the category of children, will be arraigned in open court.”
A Facebook user, Michale Matthew, posted a story on her page that she saw two female pupils being harassed and molested by their fellow male pupils, who had just completed their senior secondary school examinations.
Matthew described how the boys chased the girls in Obalende, tearing up the skirt of one of the victims with a pair of scissors.
According to her, two of the boys attempted to force themselves on the girls to the cheers of other boys.
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