A three-year-old Darasimi Ogunwunmi has died after drinking caustic soda left carelessly on ground in his classroom by teachers of his private school.
The Kindergarten One pupil died nine months after the infamous incident that occurred in his school, Fahsal Children’s School, Ilupeju Estate, Idiroko, Ogun State in November 2015.
The child found it difficult to either swallow either liquid or solid food, despite six different surgeries at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.
His bereaved mother, Toyin, described the last days of the boy as hell.
Toyin recalled with nostalgia while speaking with Punch.
“My son would have died long ago if not because of the money that kind Nigerians raised for his treatment. The money financed his surgeries and rehabilitation since that time.
“If I knew he had no chance of survival, I would have prayed that God should give him rest long ago because my son suffered for every day he lived after that incident. Every day, I saw him lying in the hospital bed or sitting at home struggling to drink ordinary water with pain, I cried bitterly.”
The parent further added that despite promises made by the Ogun state government, his son died without help.
Reacting to the incident, Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Modupe Mujota, said that she had constituted a team to investigate the case.
“There was a full investigation. But because there was no hard evidence, it became difficult to take the issue up legally. We combed the premises of the school and nothing was found, probably because time had elapsed and the school might have cleaned up,” Mujota said.
“There are larger factors to be considered when you want to close down a school like the population the school is serving.”
“If they say we did not visit, we have pictures as evidence of our team’s visit to the child and his mother. There were allegations from the school proprietor that the boy’s parents were trying to extort her. We went to verify the claim.”
Comments