Paul Okungbowa, the governorship candidate for the Young Progressive Party (YPP) in the just concluded 2024 Edo governorship election, has been sentenced to six months in prison by an Oredo Chief Magistrate’s Court.
He was found guilty of negligence and defamation after referring to a pupil’s mother as a prostitute.
Okungbowa, who operates Calvary Crown Academy, a private school in Benin, was convicted alongside three teachers from the institution: Blessing Osarodion, Egharevba Esosa, and Isioma Nimen.
Chief Magistrate Caroline Oghuma, who presided over the case, provided the defendants with the option of paying fines in lieu of serving full prison sentences.
According to court documents, on 8 September 2023, Okungbowa insulted Mrs Blessing Aigbudu, the mother of two pupils at his school, during an incident at the AIG Zone 5 headquarters in Benin. He publicly called her a prostitute in front of her husband and others, an act likely to disrupt the peace.
As a result, Chief Magistrate Oghuma imposed a six-month prison sentence on Okungbowa, with an alternative of paying a ₦100,000 fine.
The three teachers faced charges related to negligence and the abandonment of the Aigbudu children, which led to harm and exposed them to danger.
The court found that as caregivers at the academy, Osarodion, Esosa, and Nimen failed to protect six-year-old Salma Aigbudu, who sustained facial injuries on 29 September 2021, while waiting in the school’s reception area after closing hours. The teachers neglected to administer first aid for her injury.
Furthermore, the court established that the teachers abandoned two-year-old Zuri Aigbudu in January 2022, exposing the toddler to significant risk.
Osarodion and Esosa were each sentenced to one year in prison or a ₦100,000 fine for negligence that resulted in injury to Salma Aigbudu. Nimen was sentenced to three months or a ₦50,000 fine for the unlawful abandonment of two-year-old Zuri Aigbudu.
These offences violated Sections 167(2), 412, 270, and 267 of the Criminal Laws of Edo State, 2022.
