Mother tackles Lagos school over daughter’s eye injury

A mother, Mrs Charity Obisco, has accused the management of a Lagos-based school of abandoning her 10-year-old daughter, Mary, after she was stabbed in the eye by a classmate.

Charity told PUNCH Metro on Sunday that the incident occurred on October 11, 2024.

She explained that the school’s headmistress had informed her of the incident and requested that she meet them at the hospital.

Charity stated that her daughter underwent surgery at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, which was paid for by the mother of the boy who allegedly stabbed her.

However, she claimed that the school’s management stopped visiting or showing concern for her daughter’s well-being after the surgery.

She said, “I was at home when the headmistress called me that my daughter, Mary Obisco, was stabbed in the eye by her classmate at the Belihan Schools at Olorunsogo in the Mushin area of Lagos State and that I should come to the hospital where she was taken to. When I got to the hospital, she was referred to LASUTH. When we got there, the doctor said she could not see with her eyes again. But they admitted her to operate on the eye so that it wouldn’t affect the right one. We went to a military hospital and from there ended up at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital where they said they could not bring back her sight and that it was 50/50. Those who followed us were the headmistress, the teacher and the mother of the child who stabbed my daughter. The operation was done on Saturday, October 12 and paid for by the woman whose child allegedly did it.

“Immediately after the surgery, my daughter was admitted and since then, we have not seen anyone from the school again. When I called the teachers, they said the owner of the school asked them not to visit us again and that the woman who paid for the surgery had collected her money from them after insisting that she wanted to see evidence that it was her child who did it.”

She, however, claimed to have gone to the school upon resumption in January and complained about the alleged neglect of her daughter.

She added that doctors told her on January 27 that Mary’s left eye was in a critical condition and they needed to protect the right one from being affected.

“So my husband went to the school and informed the woman about what the doctor said, while he also asked them what they planned to do, but he was asked to come the following day. When my husband got there the next day, he met the police at the gate of the school and the husband of the owner of the school asked him to bring a doctor’s report to support his claim. The next day, the police arrested my husband at his shop, saying my husband threatened the owner of the school.”

Charity, who said her husband was later released, added that she soon discovered that the class teacher was responsible for her child’s ordeal.

My child said it was when her class teacher was beating her that the cane struck her eye and not his classmate.

Reacting, the owner of the school, Olanike Adeola, described the incident as an “accident” and claimed that the school had taken necessary steps to support the injured pupil.

Adeola alleged that Mrs Obisco had prevented the mother of the boy who allegedly stabbed her daughter from visiting or providing further support. She also clarified that her school teacher was not around when the incident happened.

She said, “We called it an accident because the brother of the boy who used the pen to stab the girl wanted to collect it. As the boy was protesting, that was how it went into the girl’s eye. The class teacher was not around when the incident happened. She called earlier that she would be a bit late because her child was sick. By the time she came, she met them at the assembly. That was when she saw the girl using one hand to rub her eyes, and when she asked what happened to her, the girl explained what happened. Immediately, we called the mother of the boy, and she rallied around with the school. We took the child to LUTH and they performed surgery on the child.

“We also visited their house and I sometimes sent the teachers. At some point, the mother of the girl said the boy’s mother should not come again, and if she wanted to make payment at the hospital, she would not allow her. Her husband also threatened to pour acid on me. She had also gone to the gender unit and the police headquarters where they interrogated us.”

She, however, urged Charity to await the outcome of the investigation rather than report her to the authorities.

“She should hold on and let the police do their investigation. The mother of the boy had also been going about with us even to the Police Gender Unit. She admitted that it was her son who did it and she was ready to offer the necessary support, including the medical bills. If she is ready, she should allow us to do the needful,” she added.