CSOs demands justice for toddler who was flogged to death by teacher
By Tricia Ikem
Some groups under the aegis of Civil Society Oganizations have staged a solemn work in Lagos state demanding #justice for Obinna.
The groups expressed sadness over the death of Obinna, a 19month old toddler who was allegedly flogged to death by his teacher Mr Emeka Nwogbo at Arise and Shine Nursery and Primary School, Asaba, Delta state.
The National Coordinator, Ambassadors For Peace & Enlightenment Foundation(NGO), Prince Saviour Iche said they are demanding for justice for Obinna whose father has been held hostage in Samsbia forest since two year now.
Iche warned that Obinna’s case should not be like other ones being swept under the carpet but that the government should ensure that justice is done as #Justice for Obinna is justice for all children in Nigeria.
“Obinna was a promising child sent to school but his life was cut shot because of the actions of the untrained teacher, its too bad for a teacher to brutalise a toddler that did not know his right from his left.
“I call on Delta state government to get justice for Obinna because his parents can not pursue the case, but with God on their side Obinna will get justice.
“This is one among the thousands of cases that have happened before, many has died, brutalized and some even received permanent scars”.
Iche stressed the need for government to regulate schools, go round the schools and be sure schools play by the rules.
“We are not saying that private schools should be closed down, but before they are set up the concerned sector should check if the teachers in those schools have the qualifications with teaching practices.
“Also I will advise government to organize quarterly training for private school teachers to give them both moral and basic training as it’s being done in the public schools”, he added.
He said that private schools are all over the nooks and Crannies of the states because governments are not building schools, let them build schools with the modern technologies as what we have now are not enough.
Mr Ebenezer Omejalile, the Chief Operating Officer of Advocates for Children and Vulnerable People’s Network described Obinna’s case as a very unfortunate incident.
Omejalile pointed out that Arise and Shine Nursery and Primary School is not far from the government house.
“If i may ask, where is the ministry of education, government agencies and CSOs, what kind of monitoring and supervision are put in place for schools?
“If you see the school, a mushroom school and they are so many schools like that in Delta state, what type of teachers are they employing.
“These are the questions we should be asking ourselves, this dear boy did not deserve to die, for the fact that the proprietress who is a grandmother would descend so low to allow her son tie the toddler’s hands and foots and flog him into a coma is wickedness on it own”.
He said: we want to see what the government, ministers of justices and education will do, they should all rise up and ensure that justice is done.
“I urge the government to take drastic action on this, it is a wake up call for everybody, these mushroom schools must be closed down, enough is enough justice we call for and justice must be served for Obinna.
Comrade Muritala kazeem noted that the issue of students and teachers in our society is very bad, the society is not happy about it, parents leave their children for their guardians definitely they presume that the wards are in safe hands.
“Every parent believe that teachers are there to protect their children but the reverse is the case now, the issue of Obinna is very ridiculous because the child was still a toddler.
“Teachers are to pass knowledge to everyone which includes children, the brutalization of children should not be accepted or welcome in the society any longer.
“It is stipulated in the constitution that we have freedom of life but where is that constitution today.
“Almost on a daily basis we hear the sad news that a teacher had beaten a child to death, this evil act is taking place in private schools, it is not like that in public schools because the public sector has rules and regulations that guide them”.
According to him, public schools have qualified and well trained teachers, owners of these mushroom private schools are not employing qualified teachers due to greed, we are calling on our government to look into this problem speedily to avoid further occurrence.
“I will want the Association of proprietors of private schools to educate and re -orient their teachers to enable them know the various ways of handling the children.
“Government should know that education is very important. Nigeria should according to UNICEF standard allocate about 23% of its budget for education but today hardly can the government allocate 5% of the budget on education and this is why the standard of education in Nigeria is low.
“We are pleading to the government to do the needful and make adequate provision towards education in this country”.
Comrade Bethel Chukwu, a representative of Inclusive Social Welfare On Government Foundation, said the case of obinna shows that they are a lot of lapses in our private schools across the nation.
“I will suggest that all proprietors and proprietress should make sure that before a teacher can be employed he or she must have passed through Child Abuse course for them to understand the stages and behaviors of children, it will help them to understand how to handle the children.
He pointed out that one problem noticed again is that a lot of graduates just decide to jump into teaching because government has made it impossible for them to get a better job so the only opportunity they have is to start teaching which they have no passion for.
“I implore all proprietors and proprietresses to place rules and regulations to guide their teachers and introduce an awareness programmes.
“Parents should check their children unannounced, don’t assume that your children are in good hands.
“We need a better Nigeria, there are other ways to punish a child not by hitting them with sticks.
Use of cane is called child abuse, say no to it they are not animals”, he added.
