Human Rights Lawyer, Deji Adeyanju will represent the bullied students of Lead British International School, Abuja following viral footages of bullying which surfaced the internet in the early hours of Tuesday.
Adeyanju who spoke to our correspondent on the phone on Tuesday noted that he alongside the parents of the victims spent three hours with the Head of School on the next steps to take.
The activist lawyer also confirmed to our correspondent the decision of the school management to shut the school down temporarily for three days as investigations continue.
Multiple video footage of students of the school assaulting their fellow students surfaced and went viral on social media on Monday.
In one of the videos, a group of four female students were seen hitting another female student on her cheek while she sat helplessly. “Who is the boy? What is the boy’s name,” they asked repeatedly while hitting her.
The school’s management in a statement released to the public had noted that it had launched an investigation into the incident.
Adeyanju said, “I alongside the parents of the bullied students were at the school for close to three hours and it is a sad occurrence. We spoke to the Head of the School and we ensured that he announced that the school would be shut down for three days as investigations continue. The announcement was made.
“I will be taking the matter up as their lawyer and we are trying to get a letter which will be shared with you. You can be rest assured that justice will be served.”
In a statement signed by the Head of the School, Abraham Ogunkanmbi, LBIS noted that the school has initiated an investigation and appointed a dedicated team to conduct a ‘thorough inquiry’ into the matter.
Mr Ogunakanmbi said the team is currently gathering information, including the review of the video footage and interviews with witnesses, to understand the full scope of the incident and identify the immediate and remote causes.
He added that the school has also reached out to the families of both the perpetrators and the victims to offer them counselling and disciplinary measures as appropriate.
The statement reads in part, “Lead British International School, Abuja, is deeply concerned about the recent incident of bullying that has come to light, and want to assure our school community and the public, that we are taking this matter very seriously. We are committed to providing a safe and supportive learning environment for all our students,”
“Hence, upon learning of the incident, we initiated the process of reaching out to the victim and family to provide support, including access to counselling services to help them cope with the emotional and psychological impact of the incident.”
The school added that it would be implementing educational programmes and workshops for students, staff, and parents to raise awareness about bullying and its consequences.
It also appealed to social media users to refrain from further sharing the video clips of the incident.
