High School Bullying
Bullying is on the rise in secondary educational institutions. Peers, older students, and even teachers take advantage of any power imbalance that may exist in these schools.
Overview
These bullies demoralise and denigrate their victims, coerce them into consuming toxic substances, severely hurt their victims physically, and on occasion, brand them with terrible marks.
According to a recent NOIPolls survey of the general population, 34% of adult Nigerians reported having been the subject of bullying when they were in secondary school. The survey further revealed that the top three types of bullying commonly encountered in secondary schools across the nation are physical (65 percent), severe punishment (46 percent), and extortion (24 percent), according to further poll results. According to the poll, three in ten Nigerians have been the victims of secondary school bullying.
Many Nigerians were devastated by the events surrounding the death of 14-year-old Karen-Happuch Akpagher, a boarder at Premiere Academy, Lugbe, Abuja, who was sexually abused before losing her life as a result of complications, in June 2021. It was said that a condom had been placed in her genital area. Karen’s mother, Vivien Akpagher, said that Premier Academy, the institution she sent her daughter to, protected an alleged paedophile and then went on a publicity blitz to safeguard their reputation. She said that the hospital where her daughter passed away on June 22, 2021, had verified the cause of death.
A report of Don Davis, an 11-year-old junior secondary school pupil at Deeper Life High School in Uyo, surfaced in December 2020. When Davis’ mother, Deborah Okezie, shared his pictures and videos via social media, she revealed how the small boy had been physically and sexually assaulted by his older classmates and starved by the school administration for bedwetting. He was reportedly transferred from his dormitory to a more senior hostel, where he was routinely beaten by his peers, as the school administration intensified the punishment.
In 2018, an 11-year-old kid was forced to perform oral sex on senior school mates at a special school for the Deaf in Kuje, Abuja. The child described being pulled out of school at night to a meeting where males performed rituals, drew children’s blood, forced them to engage in carnal behaviour, and further killed people. He communicated his story using sign language. The young victim said that every time he disobeyed orders, he was brutalised.
Sylvester Oromoni was said to have passed away on November 30, 2021, after suffering from several internal injuries after being brutally beaten by bullies at his boarding school in Dowen College, Lagos. According to reports, the young victim resisted pressure to join a cult despite the intense levels of coercion adopted by his classmates. He had told his parents right before he passed away that he did not play football. He stated that five students broke into his room, turned out the lights, and beat him up in front of other classmates. This information was given by Sylvester’s parents. In addition, the parents said that their child was given a chemical-like liquid to drink as punishment for declining to join their cult.