The father of a recently deceased student, Monday Arijo, has called for a full investigation following the tragic death of his son, allegedly from extreme punishment at Obada Grammar School.
Monday, a senior secondary student, reportedly suffered severe disciplinary actions, which included 40 strokes of a cane and 150 frog jumps, ordered by school authorities.
The grieving father, Gbeminiyi Arijo, shared the painful account of the incident with PUNCH, seeking answers and support for his family.
He narrated; “We were told that while on the assembly that fateful morning of October 15, the principal told the students not to henceforth throw trash or waste just anywhere, warning them to avoid the usual indiscriminate disposal of waste but to use the dustbin she had just purchased for the school. While the principal was talking, a student, apparently suspected to be from the SS2 class, was said to have remarked, ‘Is it not with our money that you bought these waste baskets?’ This comment was said to have really infuriated the principal and because no one was coming out as the culprit, the principal ordered the teachers to cane the children. The children told us that the teachers involved were 10. Each of them gave the female students two strokes each, meaning that each female student received 20 canes, the boys were given four canes each, meaning that each of the boys received 40 canes. Some old tyres were fixed to the ground around their school, so when the teachers wanted to beat these students, they asked them to put their heads inside any of these tyres and once they were in that position, it was like they had been trapped while being flogged. Will anyone call this kind of treatment discipline or outright wickedness and sheer brutality to the kids entrusted into the hands of these teachers for care?
So, it was not a case of just being given two strokes of the cane as we heard?
No, the teachers involved, according to what the children told us, were 10, with each giving four strokes of cane to each of the boys, while the girls got two each. So, while the boys got 40 strokes in total, the girls were given 20 strokes each. And after giving them such numbers of canes, which we were even told was not the problem, they were asked again to embark on frog jumps. My late son was said to have completed the first and second rounds of 50 frog jumps totalling 100, and was on the third round of 50 frog jumps when he collapsed. He, apparently hit his head against the concrete of the school when he collapsed and he had bruises on his face and forehead. One of the teachers was even said to be kicking him when he collapsed, saying that he (Monday) was only pretending and at this time, he was already foaming while his eyes had changed and dilated.
We gathered that it was one of the teachers looking at the scene afar off who came around to caution that teacher, telling him that the boy was not pretending. Having been convinced that something was really wrong with the boy, the teachers were said to have removed his clothes and started pouring water on him. The teachers then sent his other brother, James, who is in the same class as him, to go home and bring other clothes for him. More than 70 students were said to have been subjected to this horrendous punishment and some of them are still being taken care of by their parents.
It was James who alerted Monday’s mother to what happened, after which I was also called and that was how we went to bring him home. I am surprised that the teachers said that he was involved in a motorcycle accident that morning or before he was beaten and made to serve such ruthless punishment. It is a fabricated lie and so shameful of those peddling such falsehood around. This was someone who did not even know how to ride a motorcycle; they are all senseless lies and an attempt to cover up their wrongdoing.
So, what happened next?
When his mother got to the school and found out that her son was in a critical condition, she called me and I sent for one of my children to bring them on a motorcycle. Monday, who left home some hours earlier, hale and hearty, could barely walk; we had to support him to bring him into the house. He held on to his head and was only complaining of a headache. I thought it was something not too serious and that we would take care of him and everything would be fine. I never knew that when he fell and hit his head against the concrete, he got a head injury. So, after four days, I had to go and meet them in the school to report that it was very unfair for them to have refused to ask for my son knowing fully well that he collapsed under their watch while being given a very gruelling punishment. I told them that we had not slept since the incident yet the school never deemed it right to check on him. I told them that all the teachers and the principal of the school would be held liable should anything happen to my son. I later took the boy to Ayetoro for treatment; we came back three days later, yet the boy was still complaining of a headache.
Was that place a hospital?
It was not, but we bought drugs for him; we thought maybe it was a spiritual attack that could not be handled with orthodox medicine. However, after returning from that place and he was still complaining of a headache, we took him to one hospital, from there we took him to another hospital in the community, which was owned by Dr Ayorinde, the Chairman of the Parent Teacher Association of the school. It was while we were there that the school came to check on us. After spending three days in the hospital, the doctor called me and referred us to the State Hospital, Ijaye, Abeokuta. When we got to the hospital, we were told to go and do a scan test of his head and when they saw the result, they said it wasn’t what they could handle, so we were referred to the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, where my son, Monday died on October 25.”
