Police to charge suspects to court in Edo school bullying case
From Osagie Otabor, Benin Edo State Police Command said it has arrested all suspects involved in bullying and assault in viral videos involving students of the Igbinedion Education Centre. Two
From Osagie Otabor, Benin
Edo State Police Command said it has arrested all suspects involved in bullying and assault in viral videos involving students of the Igbinedion Education Centre.
Two families, the Asoro and Uyi, whose children were seen brutally assaulting students, have tendered apologies.
Spokesman for the Edo Police Command, Eno Ikoedem, said the suspects were arrested after thorough and painstaking investigation.
She said they would be charged to the Family Court in accordance with extant laws guiding juvenile justice and child protection.
The Edo Police spokesman said the Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika, has ordered intensified Operation Safe Schools Initiative across secondary schools with a mandate to identify the gap in supervision and leverage lessons learnt in the Igbinedion Education Centre saga with a view to prevent a recurrence.
In a statement issued to journalists in Benin City, Ikoedem, said preliminary investigations revealed that the incident began earlier this month when two female students had a disagreement with a fellow student.
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According to the statement, "During the altercation, the said student reportedly uttered offensive words directed at their late father, specifically saying, “Ogun kill your papa.”
"Angered by the remark, the girls allegedly attacked the student after school hours. In the course of the assault, a parent, who had come to pick up her son, intervened but the two girls, still enraged, turned on the woman, physically confronting her and dragging her clothes. The school management subsequently intervened and expelled the girls for engaging in violent conduct.
"On the following day, a retaliatory incident occurred. The male student, whose mother was earlier assaulted, attacked the victim in the viral video in what has been identified as a revenge assault, which was recorded and posted by one of the students. The victim being the brother of the girls that assaulted his mother.
"The Commissioner of Police has Additionally, the Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices (POCACOV) has been strategically mobilized to engage students and school administrators through advocacy, sensitisation, and reorientation programmes.”
