By Karen James
Anambra State first Panel hearing on Blessed Wisdom Model School ended inconclusive.
Pechilly Investigative Channel a civil society organization, was at the panel held yesterday at Anambra State secretariat ministry of education Awka to investigate the alleged flogging of a 2-year-old child, the proceedings turned out to be inconclusive as the parents of little miss Egbuniwe foot dragged on the matter as they gave inconsistent testimonies on the subject matter, inaccurately fed wrong information to the commissioner of Education who was embarrassed by the whole scenario.
At the hearing, Mrs Nkamigbo Elizabeth, the founder of the Blessed Wisdom Model school, said that she personally visited the child at their house but the parents of the child refused to open the doors for her, the school management and teachers also went to visit the child and the same scenario played out as the parents of the child refuses access to the child.
For remembrance the child’s parent and the Anambra State commissioner for education had claimed that the toddler was flogged by a school teacher, leading to public outrage and calls for justice.
But at the hearing, the story dramatically changed as the allegation of flogging was retrieved by the parents rather they sustained a new story of a big wooden shelf falling on the child that made her sustained minor injury on her hand which they termed negligence on the part of the school management.
But the school management insisted during the panel hearing that the child only fell down while playing with her mates on the school playground and nothing like big shelf falling on the child as alleged by the parents as they were not physically present in the school when the incident happened rather they were called on phone to come over as the child is being taken to the hospital for treatment . The allegation of flogging was discovered to be a concocted lies against the school by the child parents who by their actions had inflicted a great damage to the school reputation. Hence the flogging narrative was borne out of anger from the child parents and the damage done to the school was unquantifiable.
Furthermore, the Egbuniwes claim that the school took the child to an unprofessional clinic was also proven to be untrue. Investigations revealed that the school had taken the child to a reputable hospital for treatment, and the child received proper medical treatment while the medical expenses were duly paid for by the school management.
The panel, therefore, was embarrassed as the initial claims of flogging has been changed by the child’s parents. Hence, unable to establish the truth behind the alleged flogging. The incident has raised concerns about false accusations and the need for accurate information before jumping to conclusions.
Many concerned citizens have expressed disappointment at the family’s actions, which they say have caused unnecessary panic and damaged to the reputation of the school and its teachers. They called on the public to be vigilant and to always seek accurate information before making allegations.The panel’s Inconclusiveness has left many questions unanswered, and it remains to be seen if further investigations would be carried out to establish the truth behind the incident.
In a shocking turn of events, the investigative panel never gave verdict on the subject matter after hearing from both parties rather they only offered to investigate more and be allowed more time. What nonsense!!. More time to do what again? after hearing from both sides, should the students at the school that were denied their third term Examination since 28th day of April the school was shut down wait on the panel to cover their pay masters shameful act of shutting down school without firstly conducting proper investigation before going public with the matter. Now that the truth is out what justification do they have to still shut down the school as their unethical behavior of not following due process was too significant to be swept under the carpet, the panel was supposed to be an impartial body that would investigate the matter without any bias or influence from external sources.
The case is yet another reminder of the dangers of allowing external influences to sway the course of Justice. As the investigation panel asked for more time , many are hoping that the truth will be unraveled, and justice will be served for both the child and the Blessed Wisdom Model School at the center of the allegation by reopening the school for the students to continue their unfinished education program. Despite the fact the lied against the school, the still go ahead to say that their child sustained injuries in the mouth and face, why all is just a booked liars to destroy the school image, at the panel ground the also lies that the child is not present, why the child was hidden from the panel in the visitors room where I went and took her picture and interviews her. According to little Egbunewi she said she only fell down when she was playing in school. Before I drop my pen, the parents of the little child accompanied the four teachers who took the baby to the hospital, as she said it was an unprofessional clinic, if it was unprofessional as she claimed why didn’t she quit or rejected the place at first.?
Question
My question is why are they parents and commissioner of education lying trying to cover the truth?
