Wole Oke’s School Bullying Incident: What Does The Law Say?

Nigerians woke up on Tuesday, April 23, to the news of a bullying incident that happened at the Abuja branch of the Lead British International School.

The school is owned by the lawmaker representing the Obokun/Oriade federal constituency of Osun State in the House of Representatives, Oluwole Oke, with branches in Ibadan, Osogbo, and Port Harcourt.

Osun Defender reports that an X user, @mooyeeeeeee, posted two videos where the victim, whom she identified as Namitra Bwala, was repeatedly slapped by another female student, Maryam Hassan.

Also, multiple videos of students at the school assaulting their fellow students surfaced and went viral on social media on Monday.

One of the videos showed four female students striking another female student on the cheek as she sat defenseless. They repeatedly asked, “Who is the boy? What is the boy’s name?” while hitting her repeatedly.

In a different video, the girl found herself standing defenseless while another student repeatedly struck her. “Who shattered my heart?” she inquired, punctuating her question with blows to the face. Throughout all the footage, the assaulted girl remained silent, absorbing each blow without fighting back.

After a widespread condemnation of the incident, the Federal Government stepped in. Through the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, the government summoned the management of Lead British International School, Abuja.

The Minister said the government was not going to take the issue with levity.

The school authority, at a meeting on Tuesday, also announced a 3-day closure to enable them to probe deeply into the matter.

Although the bully, Hassan, has apologised to the victim, school, and Nigerians over the development, the victim is seeking legal redress for the incident.

She said: “My name is Mariam Hassan, and I am sincerely sorry for what I did to Namtira, I am also apologising to you people outside, I am sincerely sorry, I wish this never happened.”

Bwala, however, wrote to the school administration, urging a comprehensive inquiry and severe penalties for the 11 students involved in the bullying incident.

In a letter directed to her school’s management through her legal representatives at the Deji Adeyanju and Partners law firm, the harassed student has issued a 48-hour ultimatum for the school to take action, warning that she will pursue legal action thereafter.

In the letter, she expressed how emotionally and physically traumatized she was by the abusive behavior of the “reckless bullies.”

Nigerians have also taken to social media, calling for severe punishment for those involved to serve as a deterrent to others.

What does the law say?

According to @timiagbaje on Instagram, the following is what the law says about such incidents and legal

He said: “Nigeria is divided into two under the law. Northern Nigeria Penal Code and Southern Nigeria Criminal Code. Under the Penal Code, A child that is below seven years of age, cannot be criminally responsible they do. A child from age 12 to will be responsible for their actions under the law but the judge can decide not to put them in prison if there’s another option of punishment for them.

“Assault without provocation, section 265 of the penal code, one year or fine or both. Section 238 of the penal code, whoever is meant to take of a child or you are in a position of authority over a child below the age of 15 and you neglect that child and you caused that child unnecessary suffering, you are guilty of a crime and it is 3 years imprisonment with fine or both.”