The National Human Rights Commission has condemned in strong terms, the disturbing video of the brutal bullying of Namtira Bwala, a female student of Lead British International School, Gwarinpa Abuja who suffered repeated slaps by fellow students over an undisclosed reason.
The alarming incident which has attracted widespread condemnation across the country is a matter of concern that borders on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, dignity of the human person as well as learning in a safe environment.
The Executive Secretary, Dr Tony Ojukwu OFR, SAN, while reacting to the ugly incident was shocked by the physical abuse meted out by a student to a fellow student and decried that this shouldn’t have happened in the first place if appropriate measures were put in place for a safe and conducive space for learning.
He cited Section 34 (1) of the Nigeria Constitution which provides that “every Nigerian individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person and accordingly (a) No person shall be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment”.
The Chief Human Rights Officer in Nigeria who condemned this act charged school proprietors to put measures in place to prevent re-occurrence of similar situations like this.
He also advised that CCTV cameras should be installed in appropriate places, as well as a whistleblower system to report inappropriate conduct in schools, while emphasizing that discipline should be strictly maintained to avoid bullying and abuse of such nature.
He further called for thorough investigation to ascertain the root cause of this dastardly act in the name of seniority, he said the protection of students across board by school management should be made paramount to ensure that this never happen again.
The Human Rights Advocate further stated that "bullying has become common in schools and if not checked will discourage some students from attending schools, this may lead to mental health issues, low self-esteem, even suicide as the case may be".
