The three-year-old pupil slapped several times on Monday by Stella Nwadigo, a teacher at Christ-Mitots School Ikorodu, Lagos, may have sustained damage to his ears.
According to Adenike Okunlaya, the boy’s mother, a doctor at the Ikorodu General Hospital said the boy’s ears were affected when she took her son for a medical check-up after the assault.
Okunlaya, who lost her husband three years ago, disclosed this in an interview with The Punch on Friday.
“We had to take him to the Ikorodu General Hospital. The doctor said his ears had been affected. So, they directed us to a department in the hospital for a medical check-up of his ears,” Okunlaya said.
“The doctors gave us a medical report, which is still with Supo Bola at the Owutu Police Station. We plan to take the report to the ear-care department once we get back from the Ministry of Youths and Social Development.”
Nwadigo was arrested on Wednesday after a two-minute video of her hitting the boy, a Nursery 1 pupil, for not catching up on her number writing instructions surfaced on social media.
READ MORE: VIDEO: Lagos Teacher Brutalises 3-Year-Old Pupil in Class
“All I am after is to get justice for my son,” she said.
FIJ understands that the boy’s mother and Nwadigo were colleagues as they both worked at Christ-Mitots School up to the day of the incident.
She revealed that her son often complained about the beatings from Nwadigo, but she dismissed them as “the usual spanking”.
“I didn’t take it seriously because the woman was my colleague at work. However, when I saw the video, I felt sad. That was why I sent the video to my friend, who shared it with another person. I guess that was how the tape got leaked,” she noted.
Okunlaya said she did not challenge the teacher or make a formal report to the school authorities after another colleague of hers showed her the video.
She only sent the video to her phone and forwarded it to one of her friends.
“I didn’t challenge her, and I did not make any report. I only showed the video to my pastor, who reported the case to the headmistress,” she said.
“I felt bad about the way my son was treated. All I want is justice for him.”
READ MORE: Stella Nwadigo, Lagos Teacher Filmed Viciously Hitting 3-Year-Old, Arrested
According to the mother, the school authorities felt bad about the viral video considering that they had always warned the teachers against beating the pupils.
“They always told us not to beat children,” she said.
“Most times, they told us during meetings that parents were complaining and that we should stop beating their children.”
The post ‘Doctor Said My Son’s Ears Affected’ — Mother of 3-Year-Old Slapped by Lagos Teacher appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.