Parents decry bullying and torture of 11-year-old student at Command School Ibadan

Marks on the back of the victim due to torture by seniors

An 11 year old student of command Secondary School, Ibadan, Oyo State fell ill after he was allegedly tortured severely by senior students of the school.

The student, Israel Dada, a first year Junior Secondary School student and his fellow students in JSS1 were said to have been given series of punishment by the senior students.

The Junior students were oftentimes threatened each time to keep mum or suffer worse fate, if they reported the torture by the senior students to the school authorities and their parents.

The matter came to light on Friday, June 23, when Israel’s father was called on the telephone to come and pick his son who was ill.

Upon seeing his son’s lean frame, which, prior to resumption was chubby, Mr. Dada had to rush Israel to a hospital, where he was admitted and treated.

The victim said that three days before he took ill, one Stephen, his hostel mate in SSS1, had complained about a missing wristwatch and called all the junior students, him inclusive.

Stephen was alleged to have flogged all of them when he could not find the wristwatch on time.

He said, “Senior Stephen flogged us seriously and vowed to beat us more if we reported to the school management. He later found the wristwatch. Apart from him, other senior pupils, usually beat us. At times they would punish us because we didn’t greet them.”

The father, Olushola Dada, who said asides the illness, he had noticed that his son, Israel, was depressed, but he tried in vain to find out what was wrong with him until his discharge from the hospital on Saturday.

“I learnt that senior pupils usually bully the junior ones in the school, but I was not worried because my son never told me. That Friday, the school called, saying my son was ill and was not responding to treatment. I was asked to come and pick him. He said,

“I took him to our family hospital. He was given medication. When he was admitted to the school in October, he was plump; I was worried about what could have made him to lose weight so fast.

“The following day, he removed his clothes and was going to take a bath when his mother saw scars on his back. He was beaten up as if he was a thief. After pestering him, he said it was senior pupils that usually beat him and other junior pupils. He specifically mentioned Stephen. How will a pupil learn in this kind of situation? Is it a crime for pupils to be in a boarding school?”

Mrs. Olasunkanmi Dada, Israel’s mother, said she was furious when she saw the scars, adding that the matter had been formally reported to the school management.

The Mr. James Olatunde, the vice principal of the school confirmed the torture, saying that Stephen had been punished and sent to a ‘guardroom’ to serve as a deterrent to other senior pupils.

He said, “We are aware of the incident. The pupil is already in the ‘guardroom’ and by Monday (today), he is going home on suspension. He had been given some strokes of the cane on the assembly ground so that others will learn.

“We are appealing to the parents that such a thing would not happen again. We have counselled all the senior pupils and told them to take the junior pupils as their brothers. If you see the way soldiers punish these senior pupils, you will pity them. Despite this, we still have some who behave badly. We are going to stop such behaviour.”