A 15-year-old student of St.Theresa Catholic Church, Okpugwu, Abakaliki, one Chukwudolue Chimobi, has dragged the Principal of her school, a (Catholic Reverend Sister) and her Teacher before an Abakaliki Magistrate Court over alleged mental and physical damage melted on her by the two.
According to suit no MAB/821/2023, the student, represented by her mother, Mrs. Chukwuduloue Chinonso, claims that her daughter, who served as the school’s game prefect, was brutally flogged by her teacher, Chioma Mmuo, and the school’s Principal, Reverend Sister Uchenna Esther Nwoba.
LEADERSHIP gathered that trouble started when on May 25, 2023, a student reported to Chimobi, that while he was always sleeping in class, another student will always put paper in his mouth.
It was gathered that Chimobi intervened, leading to a confrontation and her subsequent punishment by the school authority.
Others named in the lawsuit include one Uchenna Nwoba (1st Defendant), Chioma Mmuo (2nd Defendant), Augustine Awuro (3rd Defendant), and Okemiri Peter (4th Defendant).
Chimobi revealed that on Friday, May 26, 2023, the teacher, Chioma Muo, along with the junior student, came to her classroom over the matter that was reported to the teacher.
She stated that without conducting any investigation into the matter, the Teacher, Chioma Muo allegedly summoned her and instructed her to lie on a table adding that she was then subjected her to 17 strokes of cane by four male students, leaving her body covered in bruises.
When the mother, Mrs. Chinonso, inquired about the incident upon her daughter’s return from school, Chimobi alleged that she was also physically assaulted, dehumanized, and ridiculed by Augustine Awuro and Okemiri Peter.
She maintained that all her attempts to communicate with the school’s Principal, Reverend Sister Nwoba, were met with indifference adding that the Principal did not provide satisfactory explanations for the assault but instead suspended two of Chimobi’s classmates involved in the incident and expelled Chimobi, causing her to miss her end-of-term examinations.
Chimobi further alleged that the beating she got that day resulted in bruises and life-threatening scars, leaving her traumatized.
She therefore demanded that the defendants pay her the sum of ₦2m in compensation for the physical and psychological suffering, as well as the degrading treatment she allegedly endured.
She further requested that the 2nd Defendant be responsible for and continue to cover the ₦50,000 medical expenses incurred by the Plaintiff.
The matter will be brought before the court on the 28th September 2023 for further proceedings.
