Mother of SS2 girl expelled by Anambra school over Facebook post, goes to court

Chika Omesi, a mother, has kicked against the suspension and expulsion of her child, Chiamaka Omesi, from Mater Amabilis Secondary School, Umuoji in Anambra State, for allegedly making a post on the school’s Facebook wall.

Omesi in a teary voice during a press conference involving her Solicitors, Nkem C. Olisa & Co, on Monday, in Onitsha, narrated the incident that led to the dismissal of her 15-year-old daughter from the school.

She said that the expulsion letter dated March 8, 2023 was given to her daughter on the Assembly ground.

According to her, it was after she drew the attention of the school’s management to her daughter’s plight on the school’s Facebook wall that she got suspended and thereafter, the school expelled her.

She affirmed that her daughter, who is in Senior Secondary School two, was unjustly used for child labour by the school in a construction site for three days as a punishment due to some weak reasons the school manager gave.

Omesi stated that trouble began after her daughter, and 11 other students of the school returned from a Students for Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship competition held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Ogun State, some months back.

She narrated: “The school came second in that competition and was again selected for another competition in Dubai. The trips to Ogun State and Dubai were sponsored by an NGO called Bosslady Organisation based in Abuja because the school management refused to sponsor the students.

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“The management of the school held a reception after the trips during which the school manager, Rev Fr. Francis Onwuchulum, in his speech, failed to acknowledge the efforts and magnanimity of the NGO who facilitated and sponsored the whole affair.

“It was when the students in their own speech duly acknowledged and thanked the NGO that they incurred the wrath of the school management and the manager thereafter started targeting the students of which my daughter was among for publicly acknowledging the NGO.

“As a punishment, Rev Fr. Onwuchulum forced the students to kneel down under the sun for the whole day. The following day, he also asked them to carry thousands of concrete blocks to a construction site in the school, which they did throughout that day. He cancelled my daughter’s name listed as perfect and substituted it with his niece.”

She insisted that Rev. Father Onwuchulum acted irrationally, and was high handeded in handling the situation.

Omesi, through her solicitors, had served a notice of intention to sue Anambra State Government and Anambra State Secondary School Board at the expiration of three months from the service of the notice dated March 14, 2023, at the state High Court, Ogidi.

She’s claiming, among other reliefs, N10 million damages for the unlawful acts of the defendant.

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