A non-profit child’s rights group, Centre for Children’s Health, Education, Orientation and Protection (CEE-HOPE), has called for the immediate abolition of corporal punishment in schools.
The group expressed its outrage over the alleged flogging of a two-year-old girl, Cherish Ohamadike, in Lagos, as well as the death of a 19-month-old, Obinna Adaeze, in Delta State after the child was beaten with the cane.
Its founder and Executive Director, Betty Abah, in a statement in Lagos, called on the Federal Government and state governments to enact a no-corporal punishment law in schools.
“Corporal punishment has no place in the 21st century. This is the time to bring a total end to all forms of child abuse, torture and dehumanisation in our educational environments no matter the excuse. We call on the Federal Government to follow in the steps of majority of countries in the world and ban corporal punishment in all schools across the country now.
“We totally condemn the recent occurrences where a teacher flogged a 17-month-old baby in Delta State brutally leading to his death. Also, last week, a two-year old baby was lashed by a teacher, an action that went viral as the bold marks of the flogging on her back were shown across social media platforms,” she said.