The Delta State government has shut down Arise and Shine Nursery and Primary School, Asaba, where the proprietress and her son allegedly flogged a one-year-old pupil to death.
The 19-month-old baby identified as Obinna died after being given 31 strokes of the cane by the school owner, Mrs Ogbo, and her son, Emeka Nwogbo on Monday, February 7, 2022.
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.
However, the State Commissioner for Primary Education, Chika Ossai, told The Punch on Sunday that the government has shut down the school.
He said, “Yes, this (Sunday) morning, the government swung into action and sealed the school for now. Secondly, it is not an approved school.
“The proprietress and the son are in police custody so the state government is very serious about the incident and would follow it to the end, to make sure that those who are operating illegal schools will be dealt with properly.
“Because it will be easier to monitor registered schools but for those illegal ones, we will continue to close them down.”
SaharaReporters had broken the story of how the late toddler was beaten by the school administrators.
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.
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that the baby, a pupil of Arise and Shine Nursery and Primary School, Asaba, Delta State, 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 after reaching an agreement with the victim’s family, were rearrested on Saturday after the baby died.
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.
