From Tony John, Port Harcourt
There was pandemonium at Silver Bird International School at Agip, Mile 4, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, when members of the family of a J.S.S.1 student, simply identified as Favour, allegedly flogged a female teacher, Sonia Amadi, for disciplining their son.
Daily Sun gathered that as members of the school invaded the school, they also allegedly locked up the Administrative Officer inside her office for about 40 minutes threatening to beat her up, too, after claiming that their child was flogged inappropriately by the teacher (Sonia).
It was also gathered that it took the intervention of other parents who were in the school premises to prevent the family who had physically assaulted the female teacher from beating up the administrative officer.
In an interview with journalists, the admin officer Joy Ajayi said: “This morning, I was in my office when a group of boys, three boys who matched into my office, locked my office door, and said they wanted to flog me; and one was about to flog me. There is a scissor we use in doing school work; the other one took the scissor and wanted to stab me, demanding to know why I should flog his brother.
“All the teachers came and pleaded that there was no need for them to take the matter to that extent. They refused to open the door. There was a parent inside here with me; we were resolving an issue. So, the parents started begging them to calm down. They were here for more than 20 minutes. My teachers tried to get inside, but could not.
“They were saying they will flog me, we should go and call the police, we should go and call a lawyer. I now said I have a right to defend myself. Allow me to defend myself. As I was talking their father came and said they should open the door. They opened the door and he said he wanted to go with his family and come back later.
“Before they came to my office and locked me up, a teacher was being flogged on the road as she was coming to school, my English teacher, by name Sonia Amadi. They flogged her seriously. She is in the office and I have told her to calm down. The mother of the boy also slapped her. 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 marched straight to my office.”
Meanwhile, the school management has lodged a formal complaint at the Ada-George Police Division, where the teacher was issued a medical form to proceed to a clinic for treatment. However, the National Coordinator, Centre for Basic Rights Protection And Accountability Campaign, Prince Wiro, has condemned the alleged assault on the female teacher and invasion of the school by the student’s family.
Wiro stated that the parents of the student should have reported to the Ministry of Education if they felt their child was treated inappropriately or report to the police, in case of physical assault, rather than taking laws into their own hands. The rights advocate called on the police to ensure a thorough investigation into the incident and anybody found culpable should be made to face the law.