Bullying: FG Sets Up Panel To Probe Abuja British School
A seven-man committee has been set up to conduct a thorough investigation into the bullying incident at Lead British International School, Abuja.
The Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, stated this in an interview on Arise Television on Sunday.
Mr Sununu disclosed that the Ministry of Education would oversee the committee and take action following the completion of the investigation.
He further noted that “depending on the gravity,” bullying could lead to “an outright termination of appointment and expulsion.”
In his words:
“The ministry has guidelines for all those. You see, when one is confirmed that he has done (bullying), depending on the gravity, it can lead to an outright termination of appointment and expulsion.
“And once that’s done now, we’ll also follow it up with prosecution because it’s right. You see, it now becomes a civil offence.
“Even in this case, we have to set up a committee and we’ve constituted a seven-man committee.”
The minister said the committee members are technocrats in the field of education and have a lot of experience in the profession. He added:
“They’re technocrats in the field of education. They’ve garnered so much experience to be able to uncover whether there’s negligence on the part of the school or not.”
Recall that two viral videos surfaced over the internet last week Monday, where a female student Maryam Hassan, was seen bullying her female colleague Namtira Bwala, while she repeatedly slapped the victim.
The videos attracted lots of condemnations from social media users and Nigerians alike, calling for a probe into the incident.
Amidst the backlash directed at the school, the Federal Government, through the Federal Capital Territory Administration, shut down the school.
While the student who was caught on camera bullying her fellow student had apologised, the federal government summoned the school management over allegations of bullying on its premises.