On Tuesday, 29 September 2026, Assistant Superintendent of Police Sunday Eitokpah Akata, Police Public Relations Officer of the Cross River State Police Command, confirmed in Calabar that officers had arrested Bright Bassey Elijah, a 22-year-old security guard attached to a nursery and primary school in the city, after the school’s proprietress reported an alleged sexual assault of a five-year-old pupil.

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The proprietress lodged the complaint on Monday, 28 September 2026.

According to the command, Bright Bassey Elijah was found taking the child towards an uncompleted building near the school, where the alleged assault is said to have taken place. The school’s name has been withheld.

Bright Bassey Elijah remains in police custody while a preliminary inquiry continues.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Sunday Eitokpah Akata said the suspect would later be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for a fuller investigation.

“The Command is treating the matter with the seriousness it deserves, particularly given the age of the alleged victim,” Assistant Superintendent of Police Sunday Eitokpah Akata said, adding that investigative and child-protection procedures would be followed in accordance with the law.

The Cross River Police Commissioner has given a similar assurance that the inquiry will be thorough and that the child’s welfare will be protected.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Sunday Eitokpah Akata also cautioned the public against circulating the child’s name, photographs or other identifying details.

The allegation, still unproven in court, has unsettled parents because it involves a member of school staff whose role is to keep pupils safe. Nigerian law treats sexual offences against children as grave crimes.

The Child Rights Act 2003 and related state provisions require prompt reporting, medical care where needed, and protection of a child’s identity during an investigation.

The case also sits in a difficult local pattern. On 29 August 2026, Cross River police arrested Ndifreke Godwin, a 37-year-old security guard, after a mother in Calabar reported that her eight-year-old daughter had been sexually assaulted. That file was sent to the State Criminal Investigation Department.

In March 2025, two security guards at a Calabar secondary school were detained over separate allegations of threatening underage students.

Those earlier matters are distinct from the present file, yet they explain why school security arrangements are under renewed scrutiny.

No charge has yet been announced against Bright Bassey Elijah. Police have not released a medical report, a formal confession, or a date for arraignment.

Until a court determines the facts, the allegation remains just that. Due process requires that the suspect be heard and that evidence, not rumour, decide the outcome.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Sunday Eitokpah Akata urged parents, guardians and school heads to report suspected abuse at once.

The command’s appeal is practical as well as moral. Early reporting can secure medical attention, preserve evidence and reduce the risk of a child being identified online.

For now the official picture is limited and deliberate. A 22-year-old Calabar school guard arrested after a proprietress raised the alarm.

A five-year-old pupil whose name must not be published. An unfinished building beside a school. And a police file moving from first arrest towards the State Criminal Investigation Department.

The coming days will test whether the inquiry is as careful as the command has promised.

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The child’s privacy, the suspect’s right to a fair process, and public confidence in school safety all depend on that work being done without spectacle.