The family of a 13-year-old Junior Secondary School 2 student of the Real Madrid Football Academy, Rivers State, has accused the school management of attempting to cover up an alleged rape incident involving a 17-year-old male classmate within the school premises.

Speaking with journalists, Mr Uche Sampson, elder brother of the victim, alleged that rather than pursue justice, the school authorities were making efforts to suppress the matter.

Mr Sampson said the incident allegedly happened on the evening of Wednesday, October 22, 2025, shortly after the students had dinner.

He explained that the assailant accosted the minor, attacked, overpowered and defiled her through the anus when she left her room to retrieve some of her clothes earlier washed and placed outside to dry.

In his words, “On 22nd October,2025 my younger sister, a year old, was raped by a seventeen-year-old boy in her school, Real Madrid Academy situated at Stadium road Elekahia, Port Harcourt.

“According to her, about 7 pm that Wednesday, after they had dinner, everybody was going back to their various hostel, she then remembered that she had washed. She went downstairs to pick up her clothes.

“Only for her to step out of the room, she noticed that a male student named Akpan was around the hostel.

“She asked him What are you doing here, The boy laughed. She ignored him and went about her business to remove her clothes.

“Only for her to notice a hit on her back. She turned, thinking it was a normal thing. The boy hit her, hit her chest. They started fighting. She was shouting, but nobody heard her voice.

“The next thing, the boy smashed her head on the staircase and overpowered her, gained access to her through her anus.

“As I speak to you now, the girl is bleeding, crying in pain. The school did not take any action against the boy; rather, they sent his sister back home without medical attention, he added.

Mr Sampson further accused the school’s management of attempting to suppress the matter and sweep it under the carpet.

When contacted, the Principal of the institution declined to comment and referred inquiries to the Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Sports.

Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, said the Elekahia Police Division, which has jurisdiction over the area, had received a formal complaint from the victim’s parents. She added that investigations into the alleged rape are ongoing.

Meanwhile, human rights advocate and National Coordinator of the Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, Prince Wiro, has condemned the school for allegedly allowing the suspect’s parents to take him home instead of handing him over to the police for proper investigation.

Wiro urged the Rivers State Ministries of Sports and Education to ensure that the suspect is returned to police custody to allow for an impartial and transparent investigation. (INDEPENDENT)