Igbinedion school bullying: Erring students to be prosecuted, Edo govt says
Edo State Government said it has directed the state police command to commence investigation into a viral video where two students were seen assaulting a fellow student during school session.
In a footage which generated social media outrage last week, two students were seen repeatedly beating, dragging and kicking a boy believed to be in a junior class.
The victim was left crying in pain as the attackers kept assaulting him, while another student, believed to have recorded the video, pleaded with the attackers to stop.
The incident which has now been confirmed to have taken place at Igbinedion Education Center in Benin City has become a subject of discourse across the country, as the video was widely circulated across diverse social media platforms.
While the reason for the assault remains unknown, netizens, including parents across the country have spoken out against bullying in schools, decrying the psychological and physical damage it does to children across diverse spectrums.
Speaking on Monday in an interview on Channels Television, Edo State Commissioner for Information, Kassim Afegbua, described the development as disturbing, disclosing that the state government has set up a committee to probe the incident.
“It is quite disturbing when we heard it. We were just wondering what could have warranted this.
“It is very unacceptable; there would be no justification for that kind of treatment. We took an action that led to the expulsion of the students involved.
“It is not just about the expulsion; we also directed the police to make sure that those students are properly arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law,” Afegbua said.
He added that justice would be duly dispensed, assuring that the parents of the bullies would be made to report to the police headquarters in Benin City.
Adegbua noted that in order to avoid a repeat of such actions, the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika has assured the state government of due diligence in the investigation, while promising to prosecute the culprits upon conclusion.
“It is a wake-up call to parents and also teachers because one would expect an educational centre like Igbinedion Centre to naturally have its own code of ethics in terms of discipline, monitoring, and internal vigilance on their students.
“But for the fact that one of them videoed that incident and sent it out, perhaps no one would have known such an incident happened,” he added.
