Edo school owner, three teachers jailed for negligence, insulting parents

An Oredo Chief Magistrate Court in Benin, Edo State has sentenced the proprietor of Calvary Crown Academy, Paul Okugbowa, and three teachers to prison for negligence and insulting a parent.

The presiding Magistrate, Caroline Oghuma, in the judgment delivered on Thursday, sentenced Okugbowa to six months imprisonment with an option of N100,000 fine for calling the mother of a pupil a prostitute.

Okugbowa, who was the Young Progressive Party’s candidate in the 2024 Edo governorship election, committed the offence on September 8, 2023, at the Zone 5 Police headquarters in Benin.

He was said to have insulted Aigbudu in front of her husband and several bystanders, causing public disturbance.
The three teachers, Blessing Osarodion, Egharevba Esosa, and Isioma Nimen, were charged with negligence and abandonment of two pupils in their care.

Osarodion and Esosa were sentenced to one-year imprisonment or an option of N100,000 fine on each of the two counts bothering on negligence, leading to the injury of a six-year-old pupil.

Nimen was convicted for unlawfully abandoning another pupil and sentenced to three months imprisonment or an option of N50,000.
The offences for which they were arraigned contravened Sections 167(2), 412, 270, 412 and 267 of the Criminal Laws of Edo 2022.
For the teachers, the trio worked with the Academy and were assigned as the caregivers for the children.

According to the sheet, the teachers failed to carry out their duty to the six-year-old, which led to an injury on her face on September 29, 2021, and caused her serious harm.

The pupil was said to have been wounded in the waiting room of the school during the closing hour without any first aid administered to her by the teachers on duty.

The trio were also charged with abandoning another pupil in January 2022, thereby exposing the pupil to unnecessary danger.

The presiding magistrate said, “Paul Okugbowa is sentenced to six months imprisonment with an option of N100,000 fine for calling the mother of a pupil a prostitute.

“Blessing Osarodion and Egharevba Esosa are hereby sentenced to one-year imprisonment or an option of N100,000 fine on each of the two counts bothering on negligence, leading to the injury of a 6-year-old pupil, Salma Aigbudu.
“Isioma Nimen is convicted for unlawfully abandoning another pupil, Zuri Aigbudu, 2, and sentenced to three months imprisonment or an option of N50,000.”