School Proprietor, 3 Teachers Imprisoned for Negligence, Insulting Parents

The proprietor of Calvary Crown Academy, Paul Okugbowa, and three teachers were sentenced to prison on Thursday by an Oredo Chief Magistrate’s Court in Benin for negligence and verbally insulting a parent.

Presiding Magistrate Caroline Oghuma sentenced Okugbowa to six months imprisonment, with an option of a ₦100,000 fine, for calling a pupil’s mother a prostitute.

Okugbowa was also a former Young Progressive Party (YPP) candidate in the 2024 Edo governorship election.

The three teachers—Blessing Osarodion, Egharevba Esosa, and Isioma Nimen—were convicted for neglecting their duties, which led to harm to two pupils under their care.

Osarodion and Esosa received a one-year prison sentence or a ₦100,000 fine on each of two counts of negligence that caused injury to six-year-old Salma Aigbudu.

Meanwhile, Nimen was sentenced to three months imprisonment or a ₦50,000 fine for unlawfully abandoning two-year-old Zuri Aigbudu.

The charges against the accused contravened Sections 167(2), 412, 270, 412, and 267 of the Edo State Criminal Laws of 2022.

According to the case details, Okugbowa committed his offence on September 8, 2023, at the AIG Zone 5 headquarters in Benin, where he publicly insulted Mrs. Blessing Aigbudu, calling her a prostitute in the presence of her husband and bystanders.

The teachers, assigned as caregivers at the Academy, failed in their duties. On September 29, 2021, they neglected to provide first aid to six-year-old Salma Aigbudu after she sustained a facial injury in the school’s waiting room.

Additionally, the trio were charged with abandoning two-year-old Zuri Aigbudu in January 2022, exposing her to unnecessary risks and danger.