Another student of the Lead British International School, on Wednesday, reported an incident of bullying.
Although the identity of the student is yet to be made public, it was learnt that the student had engaged the services of a lawyer.
The media space was thrown into a frenzy on Tuesday when a video of a female student of the school, who was being bullied by her co-students, surfaced.
An X user, @moooyeeeee, on Monday night, posted two videos of a female student of the school being repeatedly slapped by another female student and called for justice for the victim.
There was outrage over the videos as X users condemned the incident, calling for the school authorities to investigate and punish the culprits.
Parents and human rights coordinators also visited the school on Tuesday, after the bullied student and one of her bullies in the viral video were identified.
The development led to the temporary closure of the school for three days while the management promised to investigate the matter.
Though one of the identified bullies apologised for her misconduct, the bullied, through her lawyers, Deji Adeyanju and Partners, demanded heavy sanctions.
Speaking with Adeyanju on the progress made so far, The PUNCH learnt that the parents of another student of the school had also reached out for legal services.
“We have also been briefed by another parents that their son was bullied and we are to deliver the second letter to them today. We will send you a copy as soon as that is delivered to the school.”
The bullied, in her letter on Tuesday, threatened to take legal action against the school should the management not take steps against the 11 bullies she identified.
Parents, civil society organisations, parents-teacher associations, human rights advocates and others have, therefore, called on the governments, demanding stricter enforcement of school-bullying policies.
Speaking with our correspondent, a parent, Angela Korinjoh, stressed the importance of taking children’s complaints seriously.
“Every child’s complaint should be taken seriously and investigated,” she said, warning that a child’s withdrawal from social interactions could be a sign of bullying.
“A child’s character should also be observed because bullying brings about withdrawal. When a child starts withdrawing, the character should be observed. It could be a classmate, teacher or any person that the child is not comfortable with. Not under duress, but when the child is ready to speak,” she added.
An educational psychologist specialising in child psychology, Angela Egbodor, who is also a parent, said the root causes of bullying must be addressed to effectively tackle the issue.
She pointed out that many parents were too busy to spend quality time with their children, leading to a lack of guidance and supervision.
“When a child doesn’t lack confidence, such a child cannot be bullied. Bullying often stems from a child’s inferiority complex, which can be influenced by the parent’s behaviour,” she said.
The Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Musa, decried the lack of attention given to bullying in public schools, suggesting that the recent incident in a private school with elite students brought the issue to the forefront.
“School authorities should take very serious action against any student found engaging in violence against fellow students,” he stated.
Executive Director of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, Okechukwu Nwanguma, blamed the failure of school administrators to manage and control students for the prevalence of bullying.
He highlighted that some states, such as Lagos, had policies on bullying and corporal punishment, though such policies were not consistently enforced.
Nwanguma advocated accountability and called on governments to hold school authorities responsible for negligence in preventing bullying.
Speaking with The PUNCH, the Executive Director of YouthHubAfrica, Rotimi Olawale, said addressing bullying required a systemic approach, noting that the fear of becoming a target could discourage students from reporting bullying incidents.
“The biggest thing in Nigeria is that you can’t rat out on your classmate. If you and a student witness what is happening and you go to report it, everybody is going to pick on you,” he said.
He added, “First and foremost, I think Nigeria needs to do introspection that bullying happens in our schools, and we must admit it. But we must say no to bullying and find ways to curb it.”
According to him, the widespread reaction to the video highlighted the need to examine the extent of bullying in Nigerian schools.
He added, “Beyond the outcry on social media, we need a systemic way of dealing with it if we want to get to the root of the matter.”
The approach, he said, should involve educators, school administrators, parents, and policymakers working together to create a safe and supportive learning environment for all students.
In an interview with The PUNCH, the national president of the Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria, Haruna Danjuma, maintained that if the school was not punished, many others would trivialise bullying.
He said, “The federal and state Ministries of Education should take extensive action on this school involved in bullying. If the government does not take action, it can lead to death. If they don’t take action, many others will follow suit by allowing bullying in their schools. Bullying is not allowed in Nigerian schools.”
Danjuma also warned parents to always do due diligence before enrolling their children in any school.
He blamed the parents of Lead British International School, Abuja, for keeping quiet this long over all the alleged records of bullying the school had.
“What we saw in that video might be more than that. No responsible parent is supposed to accept mild handling of reported cases of bullying from any school.
“Parents should check the schools they are registering their children into. According to the national policy on education, bullying is not allowed. Parents should conduct thorough checks on where their child is being taken.”
Deputy Dean of Students Affairs, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Dr Oluwafisayo Adebimpe, said students who bullied others or their mates had conduct disorder.
Adebimpe, who is also a psychologist, said, “A child or student who bullies or is identified as a bully has conduct disorder. It is a mental health condition that affects children and teens.
“People with this condition persistently display severely antisocial and aggressive behaviours. They may bully others, be abusive to small animals, lie, steal, drink alcohol, use drugs, or skip school.”
Adebimpe advised bullied children to always speak up, saying keeping silent would lead to anxiety and other panic attacks.
“A bullied child is expected to report to parents, teachers and other higher authorities. They should not be silent about it because it can harm their personalities later in life. Some might have to live with fear, apprehension, panic attacks, anxiety, and depressive episodes,” Adebimpe said.
Adebimpe suggested public advocacy, sensitisation and awareness at all levels of educational systems via social media, mass media, religious organisations, and relevant government agencies to curb bullying.
“Mental health issues should be inculcated into the curriculum at various levels. Periodic monitoring by parents, guardians, and teachers on the issue is important.
“The risk factors and dangers associated with bullying should be identified, such as untimely death via suicide, personality disorders such as conduct disorders, and antisocial personality traits. Some might have problems with their self-esteem (low and high self-esteem), and some might have avoidant personality traits,” she said.
A social entrepreneur and child rights activist, Taiwo Akinlami, criticised the government for not putting a mechanism in place to ensure that Nigerian schools were free of violence.
He said, “What mechanism has been put in place to help these children (in situations like this)? This is because prevention is better than cure.
“But prevention must ride on the back of the mechanism. This is where to start. Where there is no guide as to the position of the law, things will be the way they are right now.
“There was a report on violence against children in 2015. This report shows that our children are being abused across the board, including sexual violence, physical violence, and neglect. As a result of this, there is a priority action. What are the efforts of the government to implement this priority action?
“If you look at Section 11.7 of the National Policy on Safety, Security, and Violence-free School, with implementation guidelines that came into force in August 2021, states that ‘the school management must inform the relevant authorities when a learner is threatened in any form and need of protection.
“In pursuit of the violent free-school environment, efforts shall be made by school management to ensure that no form of violence or abuse is tolerated in school, either among staff or learners.’ The question is, Who is enforcing this?”
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ebun Adegboruwa, noted that the Nigerian constitution protects everyone, regardless of age or gender, against any act of violence, calling on the Nigeria Police to wake up to its responsibilities to execute the law.
He said, “The constitution protects every citizen’s freedoms from assault or any conduct that may injure anyone or pose a threat to life. However, the law that deals with bullying is a criminal procedure of the various states and the criminal code. The problem is that these people (suspects) are juveniles, so their trial has to be delicately conducted.
“The various laws of our country, the criminal code of the various states, and the criminal procedure of those states allow anybody who imposes fear or assault, irrespective of whether they are students or not. Everybody has protection under the law. If the police can do their work properly, some laws are attending to all these.”
A rights lawyer, Collins Aigbogun, corroborated Adegboruwa as he urged victims to always approach the police to file complaints, stating that there were enough laws to prosecute criminal matters such as bullying and assaults.
He said, “The police cannot just rise to pursue the matter. If the victim is not willing to pursue the case, there is little the police can do. We have so many laws in this country; following them is the main issue.
“The complainant is always the chief witness in criminal matters. If the complainant is not coming forward, there is little the police can do. The evidence and statement of the complainant are key in matters like this.”
The National President of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, Debo Adeniran, noted that “Bullying is an indication of a management problem of the schools involved,” stressing that such schools had failed in their supervisory responsibilities, for which they should be punished.
Adeniran, however, urged the Federal Government to make a law that would provide sanctions for perpetrators, schools, and individuals caught in the act of bullying.
He equally urged parents to be observant of their children’s behaviour, so that they can quickly detect the incidence of bullying while also not creating conditions that would turn their wards into bullies.
He added, “The policy against bullying should be reinforced with laws that spell out what sanctions will be meted out to every stakeholder that may be caught violating the policy.
“Parents should get closer to their children so that they can open up when they experience bullying. Parents should also be role models for their children because, sometimes, this bullying doesn’t start at school; it often starts at home.
“Parents should teach their children not to engage in violent activities at school so that they will not get themselves into trouble with the law.”
(Punch)
