There was chaos on Monday morning at a secondary school in the Agip area of Port Harcourt when the family of a J.S.S.1 student named Favour allegedly confronted a female teacher, Sonia Amadi, on her way to work and whipped her for reportedly punishing their child inappropriately.
Additionally, they entered the school premises and locked the Admin Officer, Joy Ajayi, inside her office and threatened to do the same to her.
It was learned that other parents had to intervene to stop the family, who had physically attacked the female teacher, from assaulting the Admin officer.
According to an Admin Officer of 'Silver Bird International School' Agip, Mile 4, in Port Harcourt, Joy Ajayi, she was in her office on Monday morning when three boys walked in, locked the door, and said they wanted to flog her.
She said, “One of the boys held the scissors we used for school work and threatened to stab me. He asked why his brother was punished in this school.
“All the teachers came out and advised them not to escalate the situation, but they refused to open the door. There was a parent inside with me, and we were resolving an issue.
“So the parent had to start pleading with them to calm down. They were here for more than 15 to 20 minutes. My teachers were outside trying to enter but couldn't.
They were saying they would flog me and that we should call the Police or a lawyer. I told them I have a right to defend myself. As I was talking, their father arrived and told them to open the door. They opened the door, and their father said he wanted to take his family and would come back later.
She described how the group used a cane on one of the teachers, saying, “Before they came to my office and locked me up, a teacher was flogged, my English teacher Sonia Amadi, as she was coming to school.
“They beat her severely. She is in the office, and I had to ask her to calm down. The mother of the boy also slapped her as she was coming to school.
“The same people who came to my office had already confronted my teacher and severely beat her. As she was entering the gate, they followed her and went straight to my office,” she added.
The school management has filed a formal complaint at the Ada George Police Division where the teacher was issued a medical form to visit the clinic for treatment.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said she had not yet received a report on the incident but promised to find out and get back to our correspondent.
Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police, had not done so as of the time of filing this report on Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, a rights group, the Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, has criticized the alleged attack on the female teacher and intrusion into the school by the student’s family.
The National Coordinator of the group, Price Wiro, in a statement, said the parents of the student should have reported to the Ministry of Education if they felt their child was treated inappropriately, or to the Police in case of physical assault, rather than taking matters into their own hands.
Wiro asked the Police to make sure they thoroughly investigate the incident and anyone found responsible should be punished.
He said, “We oppose the intrusion of the school by the student’s siblings and the locking up of an admin staff because she flogged their child in a way they thought was wrong.
“I want to tell parents that if you think your child was treated unfairly at school, there are ways to seek justice. If there are signs of physical assault, you can go to the police or the Ministry of Education to make a formal complaint.
“Resorting to taking the law into your own hands is not the right thing to do. So, I urge the Police to thoroughly investigate this matter and anyone found responsible, no matter how important they are, should face the law.
