Kogi Government condemns school bullying following death of Dowen student

The Kogi Government made the condemnation through the office of the Public Defender and Citizens' Rights Commission (PDCRC).

Recall that a 12-year-old boy, Sylvester Oromoni Jnr, a student of the school died on November 30, from injuries he sustained after he was allegedly tortured by some students for refusing to join their cult group.

The Director-General, Kogi PDCRC, Mr Abdullahi Zakari, condemned the act at a news conference held in the commission's office at state's secretariat, Lokoja.

Zakari noted that the conference was completely in response to what had recently happened in Lagos as it could happen in any state.

He advised schools' managements in Kogi to ensure the protection of the rights of the Child enshrined in the Constitution and the State Child Rights Law, 2009 and take responsibility.

"It must be stressed that the Governor of Kogi, Yahaya Bello, in his proactive approach to issues, have actually directed the commission to respond to issues that directly touches on our mandates.

"One of such issues was the most recent viral news of a Dowen College in Lekki, Lagos of the death of Sylvester Oromoni as a result of bullying.

"It must be stressed that the Kogi Government and the office of PDCRC condemned the entire act as barbaric and that Lagos state is not in isolation as it could happen in any other states including Kogi.

"It is important to tell ourselves that Kogi Government haven established this commission would not fold its hands and watch operators of schools encouraging bullying in any form it takes.

"As it constitutes the violation of the human rights of Children. Bullying is not acceptable; it is a violation of human rights of the victim particularly the student.

"The governor is pained as a parent; he does not want such to happen in Kogi.

"The governor commiserates with Lagos State Government and the family of late Sylvester, and also warned schools that every child has rights and school operators must ensure that these rights are religiously and jealously protected," he said.

According to Zakari, Kogi PDCRC is speaking as a commission that is responsible for driving the protection of rights and in doing this; we have to ensure that all students, teachers and parents' rights are protected.

"To further educate ourselves that it is no longer business as usual particularly in Kogi," he said.

He noted that Kogi also ran boarding schools and advised the schools to take the necessary steps to ensure that students in boarding houses were well secured and catered for, and take responsibility as it occurred.

He stressed that the circumstances of what happened in Lagos was such that every right-thinking member of the society should be concerned, including parents and governments.

"It is no longer news that bullying in several forms happen in our schools, and it is also a standard practice that most boarding schools have House master that stays through out the night.

"They must also rise to the occasion and take responsibility. As long as you run a boarding school, you must ensure that the basic things are in place.

"So, this is a clarion call because Kogi Government would not in any way support any form of violation of children’s rights for the purpose of being in school."

He stressed that the state government would not tolerate any of such indecent behaviours, warning that it would not hesitate to take full course of the law on such persons.

He, therefore, urged the general public to speak out and report issues of gender violence and all that went with it, defilement, rape among others.