Mother of 19-month-old baby flogged to death by school teacher in Delta, demands justice

Mother of the 19-month-old pupil flogged to death by his teacher in a school in Delta State, Mrs Gift Udeze, has demanded justice for her late son.

Delta State was rocked by shocking incident which occurred at the Arise And Shine Nursery and Primary School, Asaba, last Monday, February 7, where a teacher reportedly gave a child 31 strokes of the cane for allegedly playing with water and getting wet.

The child, Obinna Udeze, fell into a coma during the flogging and was rushed to a hospital, where he died days later.

The male teacher in question, Emeka Nwogbo who owned up to the action said it was a ‘routine punishment’ at the school, however, denied the child died as a result of the flogging, as, according to him, it was a mild punishment he administered.

Meanwhile, the Delta State Government has since closed down the school, adding that it was illegally operated and without license.

The school owner, Mrs Ogbo, and her son, Emeka Nwogbo, who is also a teacher have all been arrested.

Emeka Nwogbo claimed the child did not die while he was being punished.

“I did not cane the child to death. I flogged him as I’m supposed to flog a child. I flogged him as little as I can, I did not kill the child. I am not responsible for his death.

“They should go and check this thing very well. I flogged the child because he pushed another child and hit the other child’s head,” he said.

Addressing journalists, the Delta State police commissioner, Ari Muhammed Ali said a post mortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death of the deceased child.

”Post mortem examination will be carried out, to ascertain at least the cause of death.”

The toddler had fallen into a coma after he was beaten while the beating left several marks on his body.

The boy died five days later at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, the state capital. The state government has since shut the school.

Meanwhile, mother of Obinna has demanded justice from the authorities over her son’s death.

“My son was one year and seven months old,” Sahara Reporters quoted her to have said on Wednesday.

“The day I went to meet the school boss that they flogged my child; she told me that my baby was disturbing the school, she said do I know the gravity of my son’s offence? I asked her what the gravity of offence a child of 1 year, 7 months would commit? She said the boy was disturbing the school; that was all she said.

“Her son, at the police station, said Obinna was playing with water, she questioned him that where the tap is, Obinna’s hand could not get there, that’s what the proprietress told the GRA police station.

“The son again claimed that he pushed another child and hit his head when they were interviewing him yesterday but some other children at the school said Obinna was only crying, took his lunch box to the proprietress, she took the box from him, dropped it and called the son and a teacher, they tied Obinna and she was the one flogging, not her son. The son is just an accomplice who held the leg of my child, while the other one held the hand.

“My son is barely two weeks in that school, he was a new intake; that was his eighth day, even the uniform they gave him, he had not worn some of them, he only wore one. This is his first time of going to school. I had to register him because I didn’t have a job, I barely feed so I couldn’t register him but now, I had to gather money to register him so I can also look for a job.

“The proprietress and the son are in the police station but the other lady who held the leg ran away, they’ve not seen her since then.

“It was after my son’s incident I learnt that they really beat children in that school, there are kids with bruises on their legs, they injure some; they once removed a baby’s fingernail while beating. People were saying this is not the first time. The problem is I just relocated to Asaba so I didn’t know. I even live in an uncompleted building and I had not stayed up to one month in that compound. The mistake I made is, I didn’t ask questions, I didn’t know.

“The police said the autopsy will be conducted today, as I speak to you, I’m at the mortuary, we are waiting for the police officers to come so we can take the corpse. From what I’m seeing the governor is really interested in this case, he’s doing his best, he’s fighting like this boy is his son, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is trying his best to ensure I get justice. Even the commissioner, she is also trying, she was the one that said they must conduct autopsy today.

“It was one Mr Saviour that helped me to amplify my voice, he was the one who started this fight even when the child was flogged. The children in school said they couldn’t even count if it was 31 strokes or more.”