Mr. Rodney Nathan, the chairman of Adamawa State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers has absolved a teacher in the state over an allegation of rape levelled against him as untrue saying the alleged rape 12 year old victim is a lover of the teacher.
Mr Nathan made the claim in an interview with Nigerian Tribune in Yola on Wednesday.
He said that Adamawa Police command, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps had prematurely concluded that it was a case of rape, without completing their investigations.
He said that as of the time of the teacher’s arrest, the keys to his room were with the girl in question, which he said suggested that the duo were consciously engaged in a mutual relationship.
The NUT chairman contended that “One cannot call a mutual relationship between a schoolgirl and her teacher who are mutually in love a rape case.”
According to the investigation of the NUT, Nathan said it was discovered that the schoolgirl was a student of Government Secondary School and the suspect was a primary school teacher in a village in Adamawa State.
It was revealed that they had been lovers for at least six months before it was discovered that the schoolgirl was pregnant.
He added that the fact that the girl was “carrying a six-month pregnancy, (was) an indication that a long-term relationship had existed between the teacher and the schoolgirl.”
The NUT chairman asked, “At what point did the rape take place, was it six months ago, or now that it was discovered the schoolgirl is carrying a six-month pregnancy?”
He reportedly went on to blame the girl’s parents and the village, which allegedly knew about the affair but did nothing to discourage it.
