The Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, has disclosed that the Ministry of Education has set up a seven-man committee to probe the bullying incident in Lead British International School, Abuja.
As seen in two viral videos over the internet late Monday, a female student (names withheld) was seen bullying her female colleague (names withheld), while she repeatedly slapped the victim.
The videos attracted lots of condemnations from social media users and Nigerians alike, calling for a probe into the incident.
However, the victim sought justice through her lawyers at the Deji Adeyanju and Partners law firm, in a letter addressed to the school management. saying that she was “traumatised from the emotional and physical effect of the oppressive acts by these daredevil bullies.”
Amidst the backlash directed at the school, the Federal Capital Territory Administration confirmed the shutdown of the school.
During his Sunday interview on Arise TV, Sununu noted that “depending on the gravity,” bullying could lead to “an outright termination of appointment and expulsion.”
The minister said, “The ministry has guidelines for all those. You see, when one is confirmed that he has done (bullying), depending on the gravity, it can lead to an outright termination of appointment and expulsion.
“And once that’s done now, we’ll also follow it up with prosecution because it’s right. You see, it now becomes a civil offence.
“Even in this case, we have to set up a committee and we’ve constituted a seven-man committee.”
Talking about the committee members, he said, “They’re technocrats in the field of education,” adding that “they’ve garnered so much experience to be able to uncover whether there’s negligence on the part of the school or not.”
While the student who was caught on camera bullying her fellow student had apologised, the Federal Government summoned the school management over allegations of bullying on its premises.(Punch)
