Mrs. Oluwatoyin, a parent, discusses with BIODUN BUSARI the distress experienced by her two-year-old child who had cuts on their body upon returning home from school and later suffered in the hospital.

How


How long has your daughter been enrolled at the school you chose for her?

In September 2024, she enrolled at the school. This coincided with the start of the new academic session when she became part of their community.

How old is she?

She is two years and nine months old. She’ll turn three in June.

When did you first observe the cut on her body?

She last attended school on February 28, 2025, which was approximately two months ago. On that day, I picked her up since I have typically handled dropping her off and fetching her back, unless her dad was available for those tasks.

When I arrived at the school to collect her that day, she instantly dozed off as soon as she entered the vehicle. This was quite out of character for her. Even after reaching our house, she remained fast asleep. So, I had to carry her indoors and change her out of her uniform.

After doing that, I noticed some markings on her skin; however, I first believed them to be simple scratches. Since they were minor, I figured these could have been caused by a fingernail scrape or maybe an incident from when she played with classmates at school, which often happens with kids.

On that very day, she started experiencing fever symptoms. Typically, I would inquire about her daily activities once back home from school, such as whether anyone had made physical contact with her private areas. However, upon noticing the marking on the 28th, I was unable to pose these usual queries since she spent most of the day asleep.

Was the hospital the one who informed you that those marks were actually incisions?

I initially believed it was merely a superficial mark since, upon first observing the signs, I had no idea what they actually were. So, I snapped a photo and forwarded it to her father at his workplace. His response was clear: “This is an incision.” And he wasn’t alone in this assessment. To be certain, I shared the image with four others—my spouse, sibling, sister, and next-door neighbor—to verify the nature of these markings.

On February 28th, I observed the markings for the first time. Later, when I visited the hospital on a Wednesday, these marks had evolved into the appearance of an incision wound.

On Tuesday, I noticed the markings once more, so I snapped another photo and forwarded it to my spouse since they were unavailable at the time. Additionally, I shared the image with others, and together we agreed that it appeared to be a cut rather than just a scrape. It was then that I decided to visit the school and speak directly with the administrator, requesting surveillance footage from that particular day.

How did Mrs Alabi discover this prior to speaking with you?

On that Sunday morning, following our return from the hospital to our residence, we began administering her medicine. However, she continued to have a fever. Then, late Tuesday evening around 11 PM, she commenced vomiting.

Since Sunday, she has been experiencing occasional nausea, though not severe. However, when the frequency of her vomitings escalated along with an increase in body temperature, she felt increasingly exhausted and feeble. Consequently, we promptly took her to the hospital. Upon arrival, the medical team mentioned that she was having difficulty breathing and required immediate stabilization.

She was checked into the facility, and on Wednesday, during her stay, I observed the markings once more. By that point, the marks had altered in color and appeared less pronounced. It crossed my mind that the scratches might be healing. Honestly, I wasn’t familiar with what an incision looked like at the time. We were released from the hospital on Friday night.

She stayed in the hospital for four days. Immediately after sending the image to my eldest sibling, they verified that it was indeed an incision. When my child began feeling somewhat improved, I inquired, “What occurred at your school?” She responded, “My teacher applied pepper to my back.”

Right away, I contacted my neighbor. Prior to that, I had also requested her assistance in examining the markings, but even she couldn’t identify them. So, she snapped a photo and forwarded it to her mom, who verified that they were indeed cuts. The neighbor accompanied us to the hospital when we brought her along.

Once her mother verified what it was, my neighbor recalled that Al-Ameen wasn’t feeling well either. She mentioned to me that she had heard Al-Ameen has also been experiencing vomiting. This led us to go to Al-Ameen’s mother’s store.

Upon our arrival, we posed inquiries, and Al-Ameen’s mother revealed the injuries on his body. He had not been feeling well since then. I attempted to examine Al-Ameen’s back, however, his bruises were located around the sides of his abdomen.

Has the administration of the school clarified what occurred?

Once I shared all the details with my spouse, he suggested we visit the school to obtain CCTV recordings. Upon our arrival, I immediately explained to the instructor what we had observed on the students’ skin. Kayla verified that her educator had applied pepper to her back.

She stated, “My instructor told me to lower myself, and they sprinkled pepper on my back.” Following this, we sought the CCTV recordings from that particular day. Additionally, we requested an interview with the teacher present during the incident.

The owner wasn’t receptive to that type of discussion. She seemed quite protective. My spouse talked to her over the phone for approximately five to ten minutes. I had previously communicated with her, yet she didn’t provide assistance. Her constant response was that such an incident would be impossible at her institution. She mentioned praying daily at the school and maintained a highly guarded stance throughout our call.

During one or two conversations between my husband and her, he advised her to reflect internally, possibly suggesting that someone might be attempting to stir up issues at the school. Previously, we had shared favorable feedback regarding the institution, highlighting features like the CCTV system and the pleasant surroundings, along with other commendable aspects.

Although my husband approached her without making accusations, she remained defensive. Neither empathy nor compassion was displayed towards the children or their parents. She informed me that the CCTV recordings were not made during that period and that they could only be viewed in real-time.

She mentioned that the camera wasn’t working properly and informed us that she had contacted an engineer. When we requested to talk with the teachers, she advised us instead to bring our child into the classroom and identify which teacher was involved. Her office being located upstairs meant she didn’t accompany us down.

She instructed me to head to the class with the infant and indicate toward the instructor. Given my experience as an adult, particularly during incidents such as robberies where investigations take place, law enforcement typically isolates suspects within a glass enclosure to ensure witnesses remain concealed. However, this lady expected very young children—two years and nine months old—to single out an adult, specifically their teacher who might intimidate them. This task would only be manageable for just a handful of those kids.

How did the Parent-Teacher Association respond to this situation?

The Public Relations Officer 2 (PRO 2) from the PTA arrived that day. That’s when I found out there were actually two PROs. Additionally, we realized there was a WhatsApp group, but we hadn’t been included in it yet since the proprietor hadn’t added us.

Ever since enrolling my daughter back in September, we have remained outside the group. It was brought to my attention during a call from the PRO. Later, I had an appointment where I spoke with PRO 2, addressing every concern she raised. During this meeting, I clarified that neither myself nor my spouse were looking for trouble. Then, on December 5, 2024, something happened: my daughter’s teacher hit her, causing visible bruises that lasted for about four days.

The owner attempted to imply that we were treating her unfairly due to that event. I informed the PTA representative that this wasn’t the case at all. Our only aim was to find out who caused cuts on our child’s body. Nothing more than that.

Do you have any evidence that a teacher hit your daughter?

On December 5, 2024, the teacher hit my daughter, leaving visible marks on her face for four days. Upon witnessing this, several individuals advised us to contact the authorities and get the teacher detained. However, we decided against taking such action. Instead, we visited the school and discussed the incident with the proprietor.

We informed her that arresting the teacher wasn’t necessary as we believed it was an error unlikely to recur. We implored the proprietor not to dismiss the teacher immediately. Should dismissal be warranted, it ought to occur prior to our return visit to the school the next day.

We kept the PTA out of this matter. It was the responsibility of the proprietoress, but she failed to do so. Even her husband interceded on behalf of the teacher since he is quite advanced in age. As you understand, we belong to the Yoruba community where respect holds great importance; hence his plea for the teacher.

What were the comments from the Parent-Teacher Association?

In this situation, the PTA relied on the prior incident (my child being slapped) to take the proprietor’s side. This was the story she was presenting to them.

She was trying to make it seem as if there had been an ongoing issue with us, and now we were raising another problem.

For those willing to lend an ear, this situation could have become chaotic for the institution, the educator, and all participants. However, we aim to avoid such outcomes. Hence, there was never really an issue.

Nevertheless, concerning the cuts on my child’s body, it wouldn’t be fair not to inquire about everything we need to know. The crucial question we’re raising is: who inflicted these injuries on our child? There was surveillance footage at the school. Last year, an inverter was fitted, which we believed to be a solar inverter.

This implies that, as long as there was daylight, the CCTV system continued operating, allowing us to obtain video footage to confirm what transpired. Currently, the proprietoress informs the parents that all requested evidence has been supplied.

We have requested the video footage from February 28, 2025, but she mentioned that she could supply only two hours’ worth of it. While we received complete coverage for February 27, for the following day, she delivered footage covering just those two hours—from 10 AM until 12:15 PM.

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