Written by: Adeyemi Lahanmi
While still trying to recover from the recent trending story of a girl bullying her classmate in a secondary school in Abuja some weeks back, another viral video has surfaced online showing a girl beating her course mate on campus.
The trending video on X, formerly twitter has drawn various reactions from social media users condemning the act shows a female undergraduate student of Bamidele Olumilua University of Education Science and Technology Ikere, Ekiti flogging another girl in the school. The event took place on Sunday 5th of May, 2024.
While it is still unclear as to why she was beating the girl who has been identified as Ajayi Precious Gloria, the perpetrator of the act, though not named, but identified as a very popular Mass Communication student was heard saying “I want to see you fight back. You called me a bastard? Is it because I have kept silent? I must draw blood from you today and no one can stop me”. There was no interference from those watching as the event unfolded.
Meanwhile, the video generated a lot of reactions from Nigerians calling on the appropriate authorities to intervene with the view to getting justice for the victim.
Speaking on the matter, Tope Akinbisoye, the varsity’s spokesperson, said the students in the viral video were summoned by the school disciplinary panel on Monday. Akinbisoye stated that the school management is awaiting the outcome of the panel’s meeting to determine the appropriate sanction.
“The school is aware. They faced the students’ disciplinary panel yesterday. We await the decision of the committee probably today. And we will issue an official statement. All of them involved must be properly sanctioned,” he stated.
Bullying in school is the repeated aggressive behavior intended to harm or intimidate others, often involving a power imbalance between the bully and the victim. Some common forms of bullying include physical violence, verbal abuse, social exclusion, spreading rumours and cyberbullying.
Bullies tend to have been bullied by their own families, parents and older siblings, or see adults around them bullying staff or other weaker people around and simply mimic them.
Neglected children may lash out, due to lack of attention at home. They are mostly insecure and have low self-esteem, and seek to gain power and control over others to compensate for their own feelings of inadequacy.
The causes ranges from Lack of empathy, family environment, peer influence, underlying issues, and school environment.
Quoting Ekua Akinsanya in her article, Bullying a modern day menace, she said ‘Parents and guardians are encouraged to talk to their children about bullying, teach empathy, and monitor social media. Secondly, schools must implement evidence-based anti-bullying programmes, increase adult supervision, and hold bullies accountable’.
