On Monday, February 7, 2022, a 19-month-old baby named Obinna died after a school owner, Mrs. Ogbo, and her son, Emeka Nwogbo, gave her 31 strokes of the cane.
The child had been whipped to the point of coma, and the beating had left multiple bruises on his body.
The victim was seen on a hospital bed undergoing treatment in a video provided by the victim’s mother.
His mother said, “My son has not been himself since the incident, this is him on the hospital bed receiving drip after the incident in the school and up until now, the school has not called to know how he is faring or how it’s going.”
The boy died at the Federal Medical Centre in Asaba, the state capital, five days later.
Following the incident, the Delta State government has shut down the Arise and Shine Nursery and Primary School where the child is said to have been whipped severely.
The State Commissioner for Primary Education, Chika Ossai, said that the school had been closed down by the government while speaking to The Punch on Sunday.
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.”
This comes only days after a 2-year-old student in Lagos was given 24 strokes for failing to pronounce the alphabet.
The Agnesisika blog previously reported how a teacher gave a 2-year-old 24 strokes and boasted that she was not the only one who received the same amount of whipping and that she would be flogged again if necessary.