Mrs Chika Omesi, a mother in Onitsha, Anambra State, is protesting the suspension and subsequent expulsion of her child, Chidi Chiamaka Omesi, from Mater Amabilis Secondary School, Umuoji, Idemili North Local Government Area, Anambra State, due to a post she made on the school’s Facebook wall.
Mrs. Omesi has also served a notice of intent to sue the state of Anambra and the administrators of Mater Amabilis Secondary School in Umuoji for alleged child labour and inhuman treatment.
Mrs Omesi also accused the Manager of the school, Rev Father Chikwado Onwuchulum of exhibiting irrational behaviour, high-handedness and child abuse, lamenting that her 15-year-old teenager, has been suffering emotional trauma since her suspension on March 8, 2023.
The School Manager of Mater Amabilis Secondary School, Umoji, Rev. Fr. Chikwado Onwuchulum, had suspended Miss Chidi Chiamaka Omesi, for an alleged offence committed by her mother.
Trouble started for Mrs Omasi and her daughter after she reacted angrily against the action of the Seminarian in the school, who orders Chidi and some of her female colleagues in the school to pack blocks meant for building construction in the school as punishment for sending birthday wishes with their mothers phones during the Presidential election break, to a woman who took them outside Nigeria for education tour.
The Manager of the school was said to have intercepted the birthday wishes sent by the students through the Seminarian and decided to punish them when they returned to the school after the election break, an action that did not go down well with parents of the girls.
Apart from packing thousands of blocks for the building construction, the school girls were allegedly made to kneel down under the sun throughout the day as part of other punishment they received for birthday wishes they sent to the Facebook wall of the school.
Speaking through her Solicitor, Nkem Christopher Olisa, Mrs Omesi, in a letter addressed to the Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha, Archbishop Valerian Maduka Okeke, dated, March 12, 2023, Mrs Omesi, said her daughter in SS2 alongside 11 other students, all of Mater Amabilis Secondary School, Umoji, participated in a Students for Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship, SAGE, Competition held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Ogun state, after some of the students returned from an oversea similar competition sponsored by the birthday celebrant.
According to Mrs Omasi, “The school came second in that competition and was again selected for another SAGE competition in Dubai, and all the trips to Ogun state and Dubai were sponsored by an NGO, Bosslady Organization Abuja, owned by Mrs Orbby Agwuncha, a lawyer who incidentally was the birthday celebrant the students congratulated on the school Facebook wall.” @
“The Management of Mater Amabilis Secondary School, Umoji, held a reception after the trip and celebrated the school representatives, during which Rev Fr. Onwuchulum failed to acknowledge the efforts and magnanimity of the Bosslady Organization who facilitated and sponsored the whole affair.
“The students in their speech duly acknowledged their benefactor, and in doing that incurred the wrath of the School Manager. He started targeting the students of which Miss Chidi Omesi was among.
“In January 2023, on learning that the founder of Bosslady Organization, Barr. Orbby Agwuncha celebrated her birthday, the students made a video congratulating her. The students were punished for celebrating with Barrister Orbby Agwuncha.
“As punishment for them, Rev Fr. Onwuchulum forced the students to kneel down for the whole day, and asked them to carry thousands of concrete blocks manually to the building site in the school, on the second day he cancelled the student’s names listed as perfects and substituted Miss Chidi Omesi’s name with her niece”.
Mrs Omesi who was not happy with the school Manager’s dropping her daughter’s name from the list of prefects and replacing her with his niece reacted angrily on the school’s Facebook wall which commended the newly elected prefects, an action that got the Rev Fr offended, who invited her to the school where he handed to her letter expelling her daughter from the school.
In a letter addressed to Mrs Omesi, dated March 8, 2023, Rev Fr. Onwuchulum cited verbal abuse and character assassination Mrs Omesi posted on a Facebook wall of the school as injurious to the image of the school and staff.
The letter read, “Without any provocation on our part, you went to the Facebook timeline of the teacher in question and called him eskrima (thief), hauling all kinds of verbal abuse against him. You came to our school’s official Facebook page with over 20,000 followers and levelled me wicked. We feel disappointed by your malicious ungrateful comportment.
“We are suspending your daughter from our school from now till 22nd March when she will come back to take her second term examination, other things will be decided afterwards” the letter noted.
Rev Fr. Onwuchulum also issued a Zenith bank Plc Cheque of N30,000, dated 08-03-2023, No. 0100729845 signed but without the receivers name, which he allegedly handed over to Mrs Omesi as a refund of N75,000 School Fees paid for her daughter.
Meanwhile, Nkem C, Olisa & Co, have served notice of intention to sue the Anambra state government and Anambra State Secondary School Board at the expiration of three months from the service of the notice dated 14/03/2023, at the State High Court, Ogidi.
The reliefs claimed include: Ten million naira in damages for the unlawful acts of the school and a declaration that the suspension and subsequent expulsion of Miss Chidi Omesi without any lawful reason and justification is unlawful.
Furthermore, a declaration that the inhumane treatment of the punishment to knell down for over eight hours on the 1st day of February 2023 and punishment to carry building blocks of 9 inches hollow type all day on 2nd February 2023 without any lawful justification is unlawful and contrary to the child rights Act.