Defilement: Probe begins as father dies fighting suspect

The Lagos State Police Command has launched a manhunt for the driver of Luyol Secondary School, Iju, Jacob Fatokin, for allegedly killing a father who accused him of sexually molesting his daughter in the state.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the victim’s parents, after being notified of the driver’s illicit act against their daughter, visited the school to tender an official complaint against the driver.

The owner of the school, after listening to the parents and the pupil who narrated her ordeal in the hands of the driver, reportedly questioned the driver, who denied the allegation.

Enraged by the development, the pupil’s mother, while speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria, said her husband slapped the driver, adding that the situation degenerated into a scuffle between the driver and her husband.

The pupil’s mother said the driver hit her husband’s chest, and in the process, he collapsed and was rushed to hospital where he was confirmed dead.

She said, “On Wednesday, February 1, my daughter told me that her school bus driver had been taking her to his house around Ajuwon, on the pretext that he needed to drop something at home and that she should follow him.

“When they entered the house, the driver would ask my daughter to sit on his lap; to raise her school uniform and to kiss his mouth. I told my husband what our daughter said on Monday, February 6 and he immediately called the school to complain and said he was also reporting the allegation to the police.

“He was told to come to the school first so we went there on Tuesday, February 7 and we met the school owner, the driver and some of the teachers. The school owner after listening to us, confronted the driver, saying he returned late with the school bus the previous week and when asked, he said he went to something at home.”

The aggrieved mother said Fatokin denied sexually molesting her daughter, adding that the case was also reported at the Iju Police Station for further investigation.

“The driver couldn’t say anything other than me? Me? Me? My visibly angry husband went to the driver, shouted at him and questioned why he molested his daughter.

“My husband angrily slapped the driver and they started fighting during which he pushed my husband on his chest. He (her husband) fell and efforts to revive him were abortive. We rushed him to a hospital, where he was confirmed dead,’’ the widow told NAN.

It was learnt that Fatokin absconded after perpetrating the crime.

A representative of the school, who gave his name only as Akin, when contacted on Sunday, said the matter had been reported to the police, adding that an investigation into the case was ongoing.
“The matter has been reported to the Iju station; the police will be able to give you all the information, they have it with them. An investigation is ongoing,” Akin said.

Contacted on Sunday for a reaction, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said, “No arrest has been made; the driver is on the run. He is accused of sexually molesting the girl and he is on the run. We are on his trail.”