Two parents in the Arepo area of Ogun State have raised concerns over unauthorized incisions found on their children’s bodies after returning from school.
The PUNCH reported that the parents alleged that the marks led to health complications, prompting them to seek explanations from the school authorities.
One of the affected parents, Abosede, whose four-year-old son, Alamis, attends the school, recounted how she discovered the incision on March 2. She initially noticed her son persistently scratching the side of his stomach and, upon closer inspection, found a strange mark.
Abosede explained that her son, who is usually talkative, could not recall how the mark got there, leading her to suspect he was asleep when the incision was made.
She stated, “On March 2, my son started to complain that a side of his stomach was etching him. When I checked, I saw an incision on his body. When I asked what happened, he said he did not know who did it. When I saw the incision, it looked like he was sleeping when they did it because the marks were not straight.
“He talks a lot, so if he was conscious, he would tell me who did it. The third week after I saw it, he fell sick, and I took him to the pharmacy and from there to the hospital, where they said the incision caused the infection. They later prescribed some drugs which he used and was later getting better.”
Her concern deepened when another parent, Oluwatoyin Adurogboye, also discovered a similar mark on her three-year-old daughter, Karla, who attends the same school.
Adurogboye shared that she initially noticed her daughter was unusually drowsy after picking her up from school on February 28. She later saw what she thought was a scratch on her spine. However, Karla’s health worsened, leading to multiple hospital visits.
She explained, “I went to pick her up from school on February 28, and anytime I picked her up, we were always gisting, but that very day, she got in the car and slept off inside the car. She slept for six to seven hours that day. When we got home that day, I pulled her uniform and saw a scratch on her spine, but I thought it was just a scratch. So, I left her with my sister and nephew and went to my store. While I was in the store, my sister called me three different times that she was still sleeping and also running temperature. Meanwhile, she was treated for malaria and infection a week before then.
“When I got home, she still had a high temperature. Even when she woke up, she was not active. The following morning, she started coughing and vomiting. We later took her to the hospital, and we ran a test, but the doctor said there was no malaria or infection in her body.
“We later took her home, but the situation got worse, and we went back to the hospital. She was admitted and placed on oxygen after the doctor discovered she had shortness of breath.”
While in the hospital, Adurogboye examined the mark again and questioned her daughter about it. Karla attempted to respond but could only repeatedly mutter, “my teacher.”
She recalled, “While in the hospital, I saw the mark again, and when I asked her, she said ‘my teacher’ five times and couldn’t talk again. It was when we got home and I asked her again that she said it was her aunty that put pepper on her back in the school bathroom.
“I called my husband and sent the picture to him. I also showed my sister, and they all confirmed it was an incision. I did not put an incision on my child’s body, and it was when I got to Mrs. Abosede that she confirmed it on her son’s body too.”
Seeking answers, the parents confronted the school’s proprietress, who denied any involvement, suggesting that the children might have sustained the marks elsewhere.
When they requested to review the school’s CCTV footage, they were informed that the cameras had not been functional for several days.
Adurogboye stated, “We also requested that she call her workers so that my daughter could identify the person, but she declined. We went to the station the following day, and they invited her. She said again that she had checked the footage and that she could not find anything. When we asked her to play the footage, she only played it from the hours of 10 am to 12:15 pm. When asked what happened between 12 pm and 2 pm, she said there was no light, and my husband immediately told her that the school has an inverter. Then, she said again that the inverter was not working that day.”
While Abosede’s family has taken legal action against the school, Adurogboye’s family has called for a thorough investigation and demanded access to the remaining CCTV footage.
Attempts to reach the school proprietress for further comments were unsuccessful, as she did not respond to calls. However, she sent a text message stating she would return the call, which she had yet to do at the time of this report.
