Hope of better days ahead for primary school pupil
By Evelyn Usman
The routine class room teaching and child training at Adeniyi Jones Primary School, Ikeja, Lagos, took another dimension recently following a petition to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police and the Universal Basic Education over assault on one of its pupils by her guardian.
•Ifunaya battered
The pupil at the centre of controversy is 12-old Ifunaya Nwamba who was said to have reported to school two months ago with a swollen face and blood stained eyes. On inquiry, the pupil claimed she was battered by her ‘madam’, over her inability to wash her Sienna bus wagon car to her atisfaction.
Further checks on her revealed faint burn marks, which she alleged was caused by her aunt who at one time poured hot oil on her. The teachers were awash with pity after the girl explained how she was brought from the village with the singular purpose of having quality education , only to end up being a house help.
Irked by the revelation which prompted the petitioned, Ifunaya’s guardian, Mrs Chigozie Godrick, was subsequently arrested and charged to court .
Hearing of the case fixed for May 23, at court 10 , Ikeja magistrate court, was however adjourned to Monday, July 4, following non appearance of the complainant.
Ifunaya ..In her new uniform)
Today, all seem to be working according to the little Ifunaya’s plan as she is presently at the Idiaraba remand home for girls. Clad in her well ironed uniform, the pupil expressed satisfaction over what she described as her new found home, wishing never to return back to her previous home. She hugged and embraced her teachers who recently paid her visit with gifts ranging from clothes and money, part of which she rushed to get a cup of ice cream.
Explaining the school’s absence at the court, the headteacher, Mrs Ehiedu, simply said th school was unaware that the case would come up earlier than scheduled. Expressing satisfaction at Ifunayan’s present state, she recalled with an expression of anger and pity how she reported to school that fateful day looking battered, “ This has been a re-occurring issue for the past two years.
About a year ago, her back was bruised and when the management asked her, she said it was caused by a hot oil poured on her by this same guardian. She said her guardian always beat her with turning sticks, hole pipes and wood with nails”.
The petition dated April 8, 2011 and signed by the duo of E.O. Taiwo, A.O.Adekoya ,both teachers in the school and one G. Ibrahim who is a member of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) read;”The management of Adeniyi Jones Primary School hereby petition the Lagos State Police command on the assault on one of our pupils, Miss Ifunnaya Nwamba ,a 12 year old girl who was brutalised by her guardian.
The girl claimed to have been battered as a result of her failure to wash her car to her satisfaction. On the 8th April,2011, the case of the above named pupil was brought the head teacher with swollen mouth and her two eyes closed.
The girl has been brought to the office on two occasions with battered body and hot oil poured on her body respectively, where effort was made to see the guardian but there was no success because the girl did not know her phone number until the recent brutal act . The girl’s condition was very critical that we had to inform the L.G.E.A. and the parent who came for the meeting”. Hearing of the matter, comes up on July 4, 2011.
