The management of Rosebud School in the Idimu area of Lagos State has expelled three students whose father, Ayofe Kolawole, angrily assaulted a teacher, Elizabeth Ogri, and a sanitary worker, Agnes Paul, on October 10, 2024, PUNCH Metro exclusively reports.
The school’s Public Relations Officer, Vivian Shonekan, informed a PUNCH Metro correspondent about the expulsion of Kolawole’s children during a visit to the school premises in Igando on Monday.
A video of the 44-year-old father assaulting the 34-year-old female school worker inside a classroom went viral on Sunday.
As Paul was being physically assaulted, Ogri, fearing that Kolawole might attack her if she intervened, took out her phone and began filming the incident.
Upon realising he was being filmed, the suspect, as observed in the video, turned on the teacher, attempting to stop her from recording the incident.
Speaking with PUNCH Metro on Monday at the school, Shonekan stated that the school had decided to expel Kolawole’s children due to the incident.
Shonekan said, “They (the parents) returned to apologise and expressed their regret, requesting a settlement. The school responded that there was no issue with settling but made it clear that their three children could not return. The school firmly decided that the children would not be readmitted.”
Recounting her traumatic experience to PUNCH Metro on Monday, Paul, a mother of four, told our correspondent that she was still recovering from the injury she sustained during the physical assault.
The 34-year-old worker said, “It was closing time, and I had gone upstairs to clean the classroom. I was already sweeping when the man rushed upstairs, shouting and demanding to see his son. He kept yelling, ‘Where’s my son? Where’s my son?’ The teacher, Ogri, told him that the boy was downstairs.
“However, he kept asking angrily, over and over, so I told him again that the teacher said his son was downstairs. Suddenly, he began hitting and punching me before others intervened to stop him.
“Since then, I’ve been coughing at night and experiencing chest and body pain. The school has been covering my hospital bills, but I’m still not feeling any better. I need to return to the hospital for some tests.”
Ogri, who informed our correspondent that she had been a teacher at the school for the past four years, said the problem began on October 8, 2024, when one of Kolawole’s three children told her he was not feeling well.
She told our correspondent that, as a mother, she chose to administer first aid to the boy by closing all the windows and turning off the classroom fan to ensure he felt better.
Ogri narrated, “Before the assault, he arrived at the school claiming that I was trying to initiate his child with an unknown substance. He said that his son described the substance as black with particles. I explained that I had a whitlow on my fingernail, and a colleague suggested I apply kernel oil to the affected area. I then took the oil from my colleague and applied it to my hand.
“Shortly after that, the boy (name withheld) told me he was cold, despite the heavy rain that day. I had already closed the classroom windows, but he still felt chilly. I turned off the classroom fan, and the kernel oil was still on my fingernail. I held the boy and checked his temperature, trying to warm him up. I carried him, assuring him he would feel better, and touched him again to check his temperature.
“The parents came to the school, accusing me of wanting to initiate their child, claiming that such initiation was always done on the forehead and hands. They questioned why I was touching their child’s head.”
Despite her explanation, Ogri told our correspondent that the parents insisted she sign a prepared undertaking to assure them that the kernel oil was not a fetish.
She continued, “I explained to them that I only checked his body temperature because he complained of feeling cold. They demanded that I sign an undertaking stating that the kernel oil I used was not fetish and that it would not harm the boy. I was shocked, as I hadn’t poured the oil on him or rubbed it on his body.
“I told them I couldn’t sign any undertaking they had prepared. I documented what transpired, but they insisted that I sign their undertaking. Eventually, I agreed to sign it for the sake of peace. They then called the police, who arrested and detained me after he had beaten up the cleaner and attacked me. I am traumatised by the entire incident.”
Our correspondent’s attempts to speak with Kolawole on Monday were unsuccessful, as he could not be located at his residence in Agbogunleri, Idimu. Locals at that address claimed not to know anyone named Kolawole living there.
Additionally, the mobile phone number of the father, which our correspondent obtained, went unanswered on Tuesday.
When our correspondent visited the Area M Police Command in Idimu on Monday, the commander, ACP Ajeigbe Olayinka, told PUNCH Metro that he was unaware of the incident but assured him that the police would look into the matter.
“Based on the video you showed me, the man should be charged in court for physical assault,” he said during a visit to his office in Idimu.
Corroborating the commander’s reaction via his X.com handle on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, said Kolawole had been arraigned.
“44-year-old Ayofe Kolawole was arraigned this morning (Tuesday),” Hundeyin wrote in response to the news of the incident.
