Trigger warning: Physical and sexual abuse
On Monday, April 23, X user @mooyeeeee, shared a video that showed a group of students at Lead British International School, Abuja, bullying another female student.
The video has since spurred thousands of reactions online and many people have called the school management to look into the matter.
Hours after the post went viral, Namtira’s cousin, who, like other users, had watched the video in horror, announced that the school had been shut down for three days for investigation and that the culprits would be expelled.
Dowen College: Sylvester Oromoni
In December 2021, a video of a 12-year-old boy writhing in pain surfaced on the internet and sparked outrage. The boy, identified as Sylvester Oromoni, was a pupil of Dowen College, a boarding secondary school in Lagos. A few days after the footage went viral, Oromoni died.
His father claimed he’d sustained internal injuries after he was beaten by fellow students who bullied and tried to get him to join a cult. The school management, however, claimed he was never a victim of bullying and was injured during a football match. What followed was a legal back and forth between the school management and parents who insisted that their son opened up to them about being bullied before he died.
In April 2024, a Lagos coroner, Mikhail Kadiri, ruled that Oromoni suffered “avoidable excruciating pain” due to parental and medical negligence. He also exonerated the school of negligence and the students accused of bullying the deceased.
“The alleged suspects played no part in Sylvester’s death, but were victims of their past misdeeds.”
Deeper Life High School: Don Davis
In December 2020, 11-year-old Don Davis gained the public’s attention and sympathy after a video his mum made about his poor state made it to the internet.
In the video Davis’ mum, Mrs Deborah Okezie, lamented about her son’s health and the mistreatment he suffered from senior students in his school, Deeper Life High School, Uyo.
“They will remove his boxer and push their legs and hands into his anus,” she said. “Look at a child I sent to school. He came back with a broken anus,” she said in the viral clip.
Shortly after the case became public, the Deeper Life Bible Church, owners of the school responded to Mrs Okezie’s claims and issued a statement noting investigations into the matter. However, the school later changed their story and claimed that Davis came to the school ill, and Mrs Okezie, was in fact not his mother.
Subsequently, Mrs Okezie instituted a legal case against the school management including the two senior students who allegedly abused her son. However, in May 2022, all parties settled out of court.
Premiere Academy: Keren-Happuch Akpagher
In June 2021, 14-year-old Karen Happuch Akpagher’s, a boarding student at Premiere Academy in Abuja, died from complications after she was sexually molested.
Remnants of a condom were found in her privates, resulting in sepsis. According to Karen’s mum, she withdrew her daughter from school after a frantic call in which she complained about her health and asked to come. Mrs Akpagher said Karen didn’t feel like her normal self and she took her to the hospital two days after she returned from school. At the hospital, the doctors discovered the condom and sperm remnants that caused sepsis in the 14-year-old. Mrs Akphagher said she never got a chance to ask her daughter about the person who abused her.
In March 2022, Mrs Akpagher instituted a ₦10billion suit against the school management over negligence and failure of duty of care to her daughter. The latest update on the case was the court’s admittance of vital evidence against the school management in July 2023.
Six months later, there is still no news of any suspects being arrested. Albeit protests have continued under the Justice for Karen hashtag.
Chrisland School: Purity Okojie
In October 2021, Nollywood actress Mercy Johnson-Okojie cried out and claimed her 8-year-old daughter, Purity, was being bullied by a teacher in school.
“She tells her to her face that she does not like her mother; tells her that celebrity kids are badly behaved, and she should not bring her ‘aura’, she should stop feeling proud, she should not bring her online drama to school,” the actress wrote on Instagram.
In response to Okojie’s call-out, the school management issued a statement noting an investigation into the alleged case of bullying. The actress, however, did not share further updates on the matter.
With the prevalence of these stories, there’s an urgent need for the government, school administrators, policymakers and relevant bodies to create safe and inclusive learning environments where every student can thrive without fear of harassment or discrimination.
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