One-year-old pupil dies after being flogged 31 strokes of cane by school owner

A one-year-seven months old baby simply identified as Obinna has reportedly died after falling into a coma resulting from 31 strokes of cane he received from his school’s owner, Mrs Ogbo, and her son.

The sad incident was made known by Ebenezer Omejalile, Chief Operating Officer of Advocates for Children and Vulnerable People’s Network, a human rights group.

According to reports, the baby, a pupil of Arise and Shine Nursery and Primary School, Asaba, Delta State, was receiving treatment in a hospital after he was given 31 strokes of the cane for playing with water and getting wet.

The mother of the victim had said that the act was perpetrated by the school owner and her son, who tied the hands and legs of the baby before flogging him into a coma.

The woman and her son, who were initially in police custody but released due to agreement with the victim’s family, were rearrested on Saturday after the baby died.

ACVPN’s Omejalile condemned the act, calling on the Ministry of Education’s Quality Assurance Department to rise to its task of evaluating and monitoring the activities of school owners.

He said, “With a heavy heart, we wish to inform the house that the one year seven months old baby finally gave up the ghost this morning.

“Meanwhile the proprietress’ family are still going about looking for who to bribe without considering what had happened to the minor.

“Now I agree that Nigeria is the worst place on earth to raise children. Imagine having unqualified persons to operate schools, employing unqualified teachers in the system.

“Our government should stop propagating and postulating laws that protect some sets of people and enable monsters to operate mushroom schools.

“This is what you get when those that claim they know, suddenly turn deaf, blind, and dumb to reality rather than choosing to follow the path of jamborees and sycophancy.

“This is the time to roll out the big stick by evaluating the so-called private schools across Nigeria by the Ministry of Education’s Quality Assurance Department.

“This is too much to bear, our government should make children their priority instead of making them guinea pigs in the laboratory of unqualified school operators.”