The teachers of Umelu Primary School in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo state are afraid of returning to school over a fear of attack.
The school was closed in a hurry last month after a pupil died bizarrely.
The Headmistress of the school, Mrs Akintomide was called to the news of the child’s collapse in the classroom.
It was gathered that the child died after a clinic and a hospital, St. David’s hospital rejected the pupil for lack of oxygen.
NAIJA CENTER gathered that the child died before he was rushed to Specialist Hospital in Benin City.
Outraged, the following day, the youths in the community attacked the school and teacher with bottles and axe, forcing the school to go on complete lockdown.
Mrs Akintomide who narrated the incident to NAIJA CENTER correspondent expressed fear as the school is planning to resume in January, 2020.
Meanwhile, the Umelu Primary school did not write its first term exams due to the lockdown.
The Headmistress said “I was called, I was not there when it happened. I was called that a child fainted in the class, so, I rushed the child to Umelu community clinic, our health centre behind the school but they said they can’t attend to me. They referred me to a nearby hospital. I rushed the child to one St. David’s hospital but the hospital said they didn’t have oxygen, so they referred me to UBTH or Specialist Hospital.
“The specialist is nearer to me, so I quickly hired a taxi and took the child there. They rushed the child inside, the doctor and nurses returned that the child was dead.
“They said the child had been sick, there was no blood in his body; the child was pale. The doctor queried me of my whereabout living the child to be sick for a long time, but I explained that I was not the mother but the headmistress.
The Attack
“The child’s family, particularly the boys in the community came the next day to attack teachers. They broke bottles and came with a battle-axe, so we ran away from school.” She told NAIJA CENTER.
“The police are aware of the incident. I reported the case to the police the very day the incident happened. The class teacher gave a written statement to the policemen. It was the policemen that said they should put the child’s body in the mortuary. “
The Mistress said she wasn’t aware if, the police still followed up on identifying the cause of death.
The teacher said, “I don’t know whether there was a post-mortem done on the child. I don’t know if the child is still in the morgue. The police have not done anything. The incident happened a month ago.”
“Though we are on holiday at present I hope that everything will be settled before January when we resumed. The students of Umelu did not write their first term exams because I could not open the school.” She lamented.
Several
