Amnesty said the culture of abuse and bullying which is gradually becoming a recurring issue in Nigerian schools is a danger to society – both in short and long term.
Global human rights organisation, Amnesty International, has condemned in strongest terms, the bullying of a female student of Lead British International School, Abuja, Namtira Bwala, by her classmate, Maryam Hassan.
Amnesty said the culture of abuse and bullying which is gradually becoming a recurring issue in Nigerian schools is a danger to society – both in short and long term.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that the government had shut down the school for three days following the outrage that trailed Namtira’s physical assault and bullying by her classmate, Maryam.
SaharaReporters also reported outrage from Nigerians over the viral videos of the female student being bullied by her classmates.
In one of the videos, the victim was slapped repeatedly by another female student while asking “Who broke my heart?”.
In the second video, the female student was interrogated and slapped repeatedly by her classmate.
Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory police command says it has dispatched ‘seasoned officers’ to the school to investigate the cases of bullying there and ensure there is no breakdown of law and order.
The school management earlier said it had commenced an investigation into the issues, adding that it was "deeply concerned" about the incident and noted that due investigation had begun into the matter.
SaharaReporters obtained a video on Tuesday showing angry parents in the school and a woman identified as one of the aunties of the victim slapping the girl identified as the bully.
Reacting to the incident, Amnesty recalled that Sylvester Oromoni (Jnr) of Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos, and Nuhu Yahaya of the Federal Government College Kwali, Abuja, all died as a result of abuse and bullying.
The organisation in a series of posts on its X handle said, “Unacceptable culture of abuses and bullying at schools is a danger to the society in short and long term.
“Schools are places for children to learn and grow.
“The Nigerian authorities must launch a nationwide zero tolerance for abuses and bullying at schools:
“Sylvester Oromoni (Jnr), a Junior Secondary School two pupil at Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos, would have clocked 12 today. But he was allegedly physically abused in the school. He died 3 December 2021 from complications of the abuse.
“Nuhu Yahaya - 13-year-old Junior Secondary School II student of the Federal Government College Kwali, Abuja was allegedly beaten to death by his teacher over 'failure' of the student to do his assignment. He died on Monday, 9 August, 2021.”