Babs Fafunwa Millennium Senior Secondary School
By Akeem Atoyebi
A big sex-for-marks scandal has hit Babs Fafunwa Millennium Senior Secondary School in Ojodu-Berger, Lagos State, with the management of the school allegedly making spirited efforts to cover up the abuse of at least 11 girls by a Further Mathematics teacher, one Mr. Egberongbe Adegbenga Toheeb.
A news medium SaharaReporters claims it has obtained damning audio recordings of the victims narrating their ordeal at the hands of the disgraced teacher.
One of the victims gave account of how the abuse started when she was in Senior School 1 and how Mr. Adegbenga manipulated her under the pretext of assisting with her mathematics grades.
She stated that , “When I was in SS1, we were in Mr. Gbenga’s office; then he saw me and my friends. He said he wanted to see me. He said I should come back alone. Later, I went back, and he asked if I was good at maths. I told him I wasn’t very good. He then told my friends to wait outside. He said he could be giving me marks. I asked how, but he said I would understand later.
“So in the third term, while we were still in SS1, he now said we were about to take exams and asked if I wouldn’t do what he asked for. I asked what, and he said if I complied, I wouldn’t fail.
“There was a particular topic he taught us, and we didn’t understand it. He then said he would teach me in his office. But before he started, he whispered in my ear, ‘I am going to kiss you after the teaching.’ After the exam, he told me we should meet at a hotel near Alagbon bus stop.”
Another victim detailed how he pinned her inside a classroom and made attempt to ravage her before she managed to escape.
“The day he touched me first, I confronted him. He said it was a mistake and that my body belonged to him. He said he wanted to date me and that I had no choice. I told him no,” the student said.
“Then one day after school, he found me alone in SS1 F class, removed his belt, and tried to force himself on me. I kept shouting, ‘Mr. Gbenga, stop!’ and I managed to escape.”
It was learnt that the teacher, who was not employed directly by the government but hired by the school principal, had been in the business of molesting female students for years before the scandal was discovered.
When the scandal came into the open, an NYSC corps member Clement James, who was serving in the school and is also an alumnus, is said to be instrumental in exposing the abuse.
James is said to have reported the case to several agencies, including Education District VI, DOHS Cares Foundation, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA) and the school principal.
Following these reports, the Ministry of Education’s Monitoring and Investigation Department allegedly arrested and handed over the teacher to the DSVA.
A court subsequently remanded him in March 2025.
However, instead of backing the victims and offered support, the school management started a smear campaign against James, preventing him from the school premises and spreading false allegations against him.
On Monday, March 24, 2025, James returned to the school after previously being granted permission to take pictures with his students and NYSC certificate. Upon arrival, a teacher, Mrs. Yusuf, seized his phone from a student and handed it over to the principal.
“The principal summoned me to her office, demanding I unlock my phone so she could read through my chats and confiscate evidence. I refused. Then she ordered male teachers to block the entrance and threatened me into releasing my phone,” James recounted.
According to James, the vice principal, Mrs. Longe, recorded a video of him while the principal prevented him from leaving. The intimidation escalated further when he was confined to a toilet inside the principal’s office for several minutes.
“The principal stood firmly at the toilet entrance, preventing me from leaving until I surrendered my phone. But just as things were escalating, the Quality Assurance and ANCOPPS officials arrived for an unannounced visit. I used their presence to escape from the principal’s office where I was being assaulted.”
James further revealed that some teachers were instructed to turn students against him.
“Mrs. Dikko told SS1E students to chase me out if they saw me in their class. The management was hell-bent on silencing me because they knew I had damning evidence,” James said.
The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency confirmed that the case is still in court and promised that it will not be swept under the rug.
“The PID thanked me for speaking up, promised to keep me anonymous, and assured me that the matter wouldn’t die under the carpet. They are also looking into how the school management seized my phone and held me in the toilet,” James disclosed.
It was also confirmed that Mr Adegbenga was arraigned and transferred to Alausa police station during the first hearing. At the second hearing, he was granted bail with a condition of ₦300,000. The case is scheduled for its next hearing on April 22, 2025.
Efforts to speak to the principal proved abortive, as principal, Mrs. Osunrinde, was said to have traveled, and none of the teachers was ready to speak on the matter.
