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Police in Rivers State have arrested the principal of Christ Ambassadors Mission International School, Eagle Island, Port Harcourt, Mrs Mirabel Wobo, along with a teacher and the aunt of a 14-year-old girl, for allegedly torturing the student with a hot iron over an accusation of stealing N30,000.
The teenager, who sustained severe burns, is currently receiving medical treatment.
Rivers State Police spokesperson, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the arrests on Friday, stating that investigations are ongoing to ensure that all those responsible face the full weight of the law.
Iringe said residents of the Amazing Grace Junction area, where the school is located, raised alarm on Tuesday after seeing the student with visible burn injuries.
“Upon questioning, the girl said the school principal and a teacher burned her with a pressing iron after her aunt alleged that she stole N30,000, an accusation the teenager denied,” she said.
Eyewitnesses said they confronted the aunt when she was seen leaving the school premises and subsequently reported the incident to the local police division.
A human rights advocate, Prince Wiro, who is the National Coordinator of the Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, condemned the act, describing it as “man’s inhumanity to man.”
Wiro said he received a distress call and rushed to the scene where an angry crowd had gathered, threatening to assault the girl’s aunt.
“When I arrived, the police were already at the scene. I pleaded with the crowd to let the police handle the case. At the station, the girl confirmed that the school principal and a teacher burned her with a hot pressing iron, demanding that she confess to stealing,” Wiro said.
He called for a thorough investigation and prosecution of anyone found culpable.
