By OLUSOJI DAOMI
A child comes home from school crying. “Daddy, my teacher slapped me.” Before Daddy asks what happened, who started it, or whether there are witnesses, he is already reaching for his car keys. “Where is the school?” Minutes later, he storms into the school, points at the teacher and declares: “You touched my child? I will show you who I am!” Before anyone can say, “Please, let us talk about this matter,” the teacher has received a slap that could qualify for a seat at the National Assembly.
Sometimes it is a shove. Sometimes a punch. Sometimes a threat: “If you ever touch my child again, I will deal with you.” Let us remove emotion and bring in the law. A parent may be angry. A parent may even have every reason to be angry. But anger is not a licence to assault another person.
Under section 252 of the Criminal Code, assault includes striking, touching or applying force to another person without consent. Section 253 makes such assault unlawful unless it is authorised, justified or excused by law.
So, when somebody says, “I only slapped the teacher once,” the law does not necessarily hear the word only. A slap may constitute assault. A shove may constitute assault. Grabbing a teacher by the collar or threatening physical violence may also have criminal consequences, depending on the circumstances.
The law does not wait until the victim collapses before it becomes interested. But what if the teacher actually assaulted the child? That is a different legal question.
If a teacher unlawfully beats or abuses your child, the parent has every right to demand justice. Report the matter to the school management and appropriate authorities. Preserve medical records, photographs, CCTV footage, messages and witness details. Seek legal advice and, where necessary, approach the court. But do not become the judge, prosecutor and executioner in the same afternoon. Two wrongs do not become one right.
The Criminal Code recognises provocation under sections 283 and 284, but provocation is not a blank cheque for retaliation. The law imposes conditions, including requirements concerning the loss of self-control and proportionality of the force used. In simple language, “I was angry” may explain what you did; it does not automatically excuse it.
And if the assault causes injury, the matter can become considerably more serious. Section 355 of the Criminal Code provides for punishment where unlawful assault causes harm. A broken tooth, swollen eye, fracture or other injury is not merely “school matter” when the criminal law becomes involved.
Medical reports, CCTV recordings, photographs, WhatsApp messages, voice notes and eyewitness testimony may all become important evidence.
There is also the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 and corresponding state legislation in applicable jurisdictions. The precise law and punishment will depend on where the incident occurred and the circumstances of the assault. Nigeria does not operate one single criminal law for every assault everywhere.
For parents in jurisdictions operating under the Penal Code system, the applicable provisions may be different, including provisions concerning assault or criminal force and, in appropriate cases, assault against a public servant in the discharge of official duties.
But another important distinction must be made: not every teacher is automatically a public servant. A teacher working in a private school does not become a public servant merely because he stands before a classroom. Employment status and the applicable law matter.
Now, let us also be fair to parents. Teachers are not above the law. Schools are not above the law. A teacher cannot unlawfully brutalise a child and then hide behind the authority of the classroom. If your child has been assaulted, humiliated or unlawfully treated, do not keep quiet. Demand an explanation. Document what happened. Report it. Preserve the evidence. Seek appropriate legal redress.
But there is a fundamental difference between justice and revenge. Justice says, “Let us establish what happened and hold the wrongdoer accountable.” Revenge says, “You touched my child, so I will touch you too.” One strengthens the rule of law. The other produces another offender.
And parents should remember that we live in the age of cameras. The school CCTV may have recorded the incident. A student may have used a phone to record it. The security guard may have seen everything. Your WhatsApp threat may still be sitting comfortably on someone’s phone. The law now has witnesses with batteries.
So, dear parent, protect your child. Defend your child’s rights. Challenge wrongdoing. Demand accountability. But do not exchange your child’s grievance for your own criminal liability. What lesson are we teaching our children when we tell them not to fight, only for Daddy to arrive at school and fight the teacher? The child may eventually learn that whenever the law becomes inconvenient, violence is the answer.
That is how a society manufactures its own lawlessness. The school is a place of learning, not a battlefield. The teacher is not a punching bag. The parent is not a law unto himself.
If your child is wronged, fight for the child—but fight with evidence, intelligence and the law. Because in a civilised society, justice is not what happens when anger wins. Justice is what happens when the law prevails.
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