On Monday, when Sonia Amadi, a female teacher, was on her way to work in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the family of a J.S.S.1 student at a secondary school, simply known as Favour, attacked her and flogged her for allegedly beating their child.
The Punch claims that the family members also allegedly broke into the school’s complex, confined Joy Ajayi, the administrative officer, inside her office, and threatened to harm her in the same way.
It was learned that the family that had physically abused the female instructor was about to beat up the administrative officer, and it took the intervention of other parents to stop them.
Speaking with newsmen, an Admin Officer of the school, ‘Silver Bird International School’ Agip, Mile 4, in Port Harcourt, Joy Ajayi said she was in her office on Monday morning when three boys matched in, locked the door and said they wanted to flog her.
“One of the boys carried the scissors we used in doing school work and threatened to stab me. He asked why should they flog his brother in this school,” she narrated.
“All the teachers came out that there was no need for them to take this thing to that extent. But they refused to open the door. There was a parent inside here with me and we were resolving an issue.
“So the parent had to start begging them that they should calm down. They were here for more than 15 to 20 minutes. My teachers were outside trying to get inside but they could not.
“They were saying they would flog me and that we should go and call the Police or lawyer. I now said I have a right to defend myself. As I was talking, that was when their father came, and said they should open the door. They opened the door and their father now said he wanted to take his family and that he would come back later.
“Before they came to my office and locked me up, a teacher was flogged, my English teacher Sonia Amadi when she was coming to school.
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“They flogged her seriously. She is in the office and I have to ask her to calm down. The mother of the boy also slapped her as she was coming to school. The same people who came to my office had already accosted my teacher and flogged her seriously. As she was entering the gate they followed her and matched straight to my office, “she added.
It was learned that the teacher was given a medical form to visit the clinic for treatment, and that the school administration had filed an official complaint with the Ada George Police Division.
The Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, a rights organisation, has denounced the student’s family’s alleged invasion of the school and attack on the female teacher.
In a statement, the group’s National Coordinator, Price Wiro, said that instead of enforcing the legislation, the parents of the youngster should have reported any inappropriate behaviour to the Ministry of Education or the Police in the event of a violent attack.
Wiro called on the Police to ensure a thorough investigation into the incident and anybody found culpable should be made to face the law.
“We condemn the invasion of the school by the student’s brothers and the locking up of an admin staff on account that she flogged their child in a manner that they considered inappropriate,” he said.
“I want to advise parents that if you feel that the way your child was treated in school is not right, there are channels for seeking redress. If there are physical signs of assault you can go to the police or the Ministry of Education to make a formal complaint.
“Resort to self-help by taking the laws into your hands is not the way to go. I therefore call on the Police to thoroughly investigate this matter anybody found culpable no matter how highly placed should face the law.”
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