…He came to my room while my husband was away to beat me, matchet my head and hands-Teacher
A heavily pregnant Catholic teacher in Imo State Nigeria, has been seriously assaulted and injured after a parent, Mr. Onyedicachi Wali, allegedly attacked her at her home in retaliation for disciplining his child, residents and the teacher’s family narrated.The victim, Mrs. Clementina Godswill
According to the teacher identified as Mrs. Clementina Godswill, the confrontation occurred after school hours following an incident in which she said she flogged the pupil for poor behaviour. The parent allegedly forced his way into the teacher’s home, beat her and used a cutlass to inflict serious wounds to her head and arm as she tried to protect herself.
“He came to my house, forced the door open and came straight to my room where he started beating me,” Mrs. Godswill said in a statement.
“He brought out a cutlass to cut my head, and as he wanted to cut my neck for the second time, I used my hand to prevent him that was how he cut my hand”, says Mrs. Godswill .
Mrs. Clementina, a mother of two, is reported to be heavily pregnant before the assault.
Neighbours and family members who spoke to reporters confirmed that the teacher sustained various degrees of injuries and was rushed to a hospital after she fainted due to loss of blood. Sources disclosed that her husband was not at home when the attack occurred.
Management of St. Mark Catholic Nursery and Primary School, Umuneke, Ngor-Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State, where Mrs. Godswill teaches has visited her home as directed by the Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri, His Grace, Most Rev. Lucius Ugorji, but they are yet to release an official statement on the stand of the Church.
Though the suspect has been arrested and allegedly released by the police, but the victim is calling on the Imo state Commissioner for Education and the state Governor, Hope Uzodima, to intervene in the matter as the injuries inflicted on her has caused her family a serious trauma and pains.
Contacted for comment, the Imo state police command public relations officer, could not be reached as calls placed across to his mobile phone did not go through.
The incident has raised a renewed concerns about attacks on teachers and the safety of educators in the state. Child discipline in schools including corporal punishment remains a contentious issue in Nigeria, where opinions differ between strict physical discipline and calls for restorative, nonviolent approaches. Advocacy groups say violent reprisals against teachers are unacceptable and urge both prompt police action and strengthened systems for handling pupil behaviour that protect educators and children alike.
