The Ekiti state government has been slammed a N15 million lawsuit by a junior secondary one (JSS1) student, who was allegedly punished by her school for carrying an indecent hairstyle.
The student identified as Gift Agenoisa, a student of Immaculate Secondary School, Ado-Ekiti, claimed to have been picked out during her school's assembly on May 22 and given 20 lashes of the cane over an "indecent hairstyle" on the orders of the principal who also suspended her.
The mother of the student who filed the suit on behalf of the student claims that the punishment meted on her daughter left bruises, life-threatening scars, and bloodstains on her uniform and that she fainted and was rushed to the police clinic in Ado- Ekiti where she was resuscitated. It further asserts that Agenoisa rights were infringed, and they are seeking N15 million in damages for breach of her “fundamental rights” and an immediate reinstatement to school with unfettered access to all services.
The school principal, Oluwasanmi F.M, the education commissioner Olabimpe Aderiye, Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission, and Ekiti state government are joined as defendants in the case.
Agenoisa is said to have resorted to filing the lawsuit after her letters of protest to the wife of Ekiti Governor and some relevant government agencies were not responded to.
