“I was wrongfully accused, policed forced me to accept the accusations,” Male Teacher Denies Finger!ng His Nine Pupils

CURSORY: An Arabic teacher who was accused of sexually assaulting his pupils has maintained that he has been wrongfully accused.

Farouk Adam, aka Sadiq, is an Arabic teacher that was accused of sexually assaulting nine of his pupils has pleaded not guilty.

The defendant on Wednesday, denied sexually assaulting nine of his pupils, saying he had never done such a thing in his life.

Farouk, who taught in an Islamic school, said he had a disagreement with one Awawu, who subsequently accused him of sexually assaulting a minor.

He said:

“Awawu came to the school with the children of her neighbours. Later, the children started coming with their mothers. They were all learning in January 2020. In the first week of February, Awawu brought Zarawu to me to flog, saying she had been misbehaving and lied a lot, adding that whenever she was given tasks to do, including homework, she would refuse to do them and also avoided praying.”

According to him, he initially refused her request but when he saw that she has good intentions he agreed.

“I ordered that the girl be brought to me. When she was brought to me, I held her hand and flogged her, then she fell and tried to run away. I had to ask the other children to hold her,” he added.

Sadiq said Awawu approached him two weeks after the incident, and asked why he never bothered to ask after her and Zarawu to which he gave an explanation, that she rejected.

“She said I lied. So, I asked her why she accused me of lying. While the mothers and other children were seated, Awawu accused me of flogging Zarawu and also fingering her private parts,” he added.

During cross-examination, the prosecuting counsel, Olusola Soneye, asked the defendant what his response was

“when nine children told the police that you sexually assaulted them.”

He also presented a statement allegedly made to the police by the defendant, who argued that he never signed it.

He replied:

“Yes, my statement was recorded. At that time, I was unconscious and I didn’t know what I was doing, so I answered all the questions in the affirmative.”

The statement was admitted as Exhibit A amid objections by the defence counsel, Anthony Okonkwo, who stood on the grounds that Sadiq was unconscious as a result of the beating he received from the police.

The case was adjourned till November 14 for the adoption of written addresses.

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ALLSCHOOL TEAM