A student of the Baptist High School Abuja Limited has accused the school authorities of failing in their responsibility of providing him adequate care and has asked the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to award damages at N2.1billion against the school.
In a suit marked: CV/2437/2021 filed for the Junior Secondary School three (JSS3) student by his guardian, Mr Davies Dada, through their lawyer, Arinze Obetta, the plaintiff said the damages sought is to compensate for the cost of medical treatment, cost of instituting the suit and general as well as exemplary/punitive damages.
The plaintiff is contending that the school failed in its duty as loco parentis (playing to role of parents) by not noticing or providing necessary care and attention to him after he fell and could no longer walk while participating in the school’s Physical and Health Education Practical Examination for the Basic Education Certificate Examination 2020/2021 academic session.
He claimed that school’s alleged failure to take proper care of him when he fell/provide him with urgent medical attention or or inform his parents about his condition resulted in him suffering what doctors called “Slipped Upper Femoral Epiphysis (SUFE)” on his right leg and “Prophylactic Pinning-in-situ” on the left.
The student’s mother, Sandra Davies stated, in a witness statement on oath, that her child’s problem started on July 5, 2021, when he was asked to participate in a 100-meter race, despite a reported health condition.
According ro Mrs. Davies, but for the defendant’s negligence, her son would not have participated in the said Physical and Health Education Practical Examination, which resulted to physical and psychological injury, suffering, pain and monetary expenses.
The student’s mother claimed that she had earlier informed some members of staff of the school of claimant’s health condition after they noticed he was limping during the second term holidays of 2020/2021 session.
She stated that they had taken the child to a hospital in the Wuse area of Abuja, where doctors, after treatment, advised that he should not be allowed to stress his right leg.
Mrs. Davies added that the information was not only passed to claimant’s House Master but the drugs to be administered on claimant were handed over to the Matron (head nurse of the school) for proper administration.
She claimed that all these were ignored by the school while senior students were also allowed to punish claimant by asking him to do “frog jump” despite his health condition.
Mrs. Davies also accused the school of not showing concern about the plight of claimant even when they new claimant was taken straight from the school to the hospital where he was later operated on his two legs, adding that they only called after a friend to claimant’s father who introduced them to the school called ” to condemn the negligent manner in which the defendant school was handling claimant’s case”.
She argued that, owing to the school’s negligence, her son is now subjected to pain, emotional and psychological torture; future loss of earning capacity.
Mrs. Davies stated that her son was at the verge of being permanently disabled should anything happens to his cartilage bone; a condition that is said to be beyond what medical science could handle.
The judge, to whom the case is assigned, Justice Babangida Hassan has fixed March 9, 2022 for hearing.
