How bullying caused death of orphaned air force school assistant head boy

Blaise Felix Aliyu, a student at the Air Force Comprehensive School in Kaduna, with his twin brother lost their parents in 2013. Sadly, on June 19, 2024, his brother and other family members were awoken to the rude shock of his demise. Felix, whose uncle, Paul Samson, said was hale and hearty when he visited […]

Blaise Felix Aliyu, a student at the Air Force Comprehensive School in Kaduna, with his twin brother lost their parents in 2013. Sadly, on June 19, 2024, his brother and other family members were awoken to the rude shock of his demise.

Felix, whose uncle, Paul Samson, said was hale and hearty when he visited him during the Sallah break, was allegedly tortured to death by some Senior Secondary (SS) 3 students who were in school waiting to take their National Examinations Council (NECO) exams.

Daily Trust gathered that Felix was summoned by the two senior students and beaten to death because he was said to have punished a junior student who was a boy to one of them. It was the junior student who reported him to his school father.

But the Spokesperson of the Nigerian Air Force ((NAF), Edward Gabkwet, in a statement revealed that to avoid all sorts of speculations, a thorough investigation has commenced to unravel what actually led to the death of the student.

“The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, and indeed the entire NAF family are saddened by the painful and unfortunate incident of the untimely death of one of our students at Air Force Secondary School, Kaduna on June 19, 2024.

“Rest assured that this matter is receiving the utmost urgency it deserves, and we won’t rest until it is unravelled,” he said.

Even though there was no mention of how the student died in the air force’s statement, circumstances surrounding the murder of the student emerged from a source who reported that the young man was allegedly murdered by two SS3 students in the school dormitory located in Mando, Kaduna.

According to an aggrieved family source, Blaize was electrocuted by two SS3 boys.

A family friend, Dr Inya Ode, on her Facebook page wrote: “One would think he had crossed the stage of bullying but no…. This son of ours was electrocuted by two SS3 boys for no just cause. These young men, who were already on their way out of school, snuffed the life out of Blaize for reasons best known to them.”

Further investigation revealed that the leadership of the NAF was aware of the development, though being sceptical in providing details into what really transpired in the school in its statement, on Saturday.

However, addressing a press conference on Sunday, Mr Paul Samson, Felix’s uncle, demanded justice for his slain nephew.

He insisted that the relevant law enforcement agencies should conduct a thorough probe of the incident.

He said, “Felix is an orphan; his parents died in 2013, so the best the management of the school and indeed, the Nigerian Air Force, can do is to honour Felix by unravelling the circumstances that led to his death.

“When I visited the late Felix during the Sallah break, he was hale and hearty, as I speak to you now, myself and the entire family are still in shock over the death of our nephew (Felix) who was a brilliant and disciplined student to the core.

“We were assured that an investigation is currently going on to fish out the culprits and see that justice is served. We as a family trust in the integrity of the school and the air force and we are confident that the killers of our son will not escape punishment.”

He said the family was informed about the death of their nephew by the education secretary of the air force-based school, whose name was not mentioned.

The body of the deceased is said to have been deposited in the mortuary pending the conclusion of an investigation to unravel the cause of his death.

Our correspondent gathered from a source within the school that two senior secondary school students had been arrested and are currently being detained in an undisclosed facility in connection with the incident.

There have been increasing cases of bullying in secondary schools across the country. Various studies put bullying in Nigerian schools at 70 per cent and may be as high as 85 per cent. Despite its prevalence, there is a glaring absence of comprehensive anti-bullying policies to address the issue directly. This should change with a focus on it at every level of education.

The recent one involving students of Lead British International School who were caught on camera bullying their fellow student led to the closure of the school after a series of public condemnation and accusations on the school management allegedly treating recurrent bullying with kid gloves.

Daily Trust recalls that an X user posted the two videos sometime in April this year of a female student of the school being repeatedly slapped by other female classmates and called for justice for the victim.

The school’s management in a statement it released to the public had noted that it had launched an investigation into the incident. The school has since been reopened but not before the victim instituted a suit in court demanding N500 million damages.

In 2021, there was an alleged case of bullying at a popular private college in Lagos. The victim, who later died, was allegedly beaten by senior students till he was injured. Despite this, cases of bullying by other pupils in the school were not addressed.

In 2020, a story broke of Don Davis, a young boy of 11 years and a Junior Secondary School student at Deeper Life High School, Uyo. Davis’ story came to the public when his mother, Deborah Okezie, posted his photos and videos on social media, describing how the young lad was physically and sexually molested by his seniors, and starved by the school authority for bedwetting.

In 2018, in a special school for the deaf in Kuje, Abuja, an 11-year-old boy was sodomised and forced to perform oral sex on older schoolmates in 2018.The boy, using sign language spoke about being driven out of school in the night to a gathering where men conducted rituals, drew children’s blood, and forced them to perform erotic acts or get killed. The boy said he was brutalised whenever he refused to do as instructed.

The Government Secondary School Kwali was in the news in August 2021 when reports erupted of a teacher who beat and killed a 13-year-old JSS 2 student. The boy was said to have come under heavy flogging by his teacher for failing to complete his assignment, even though he was said to have taken ill. The boy had visited the school clinic but could not get medication because he had not eaten that day.

These cases, according to stakeholders, underscore the need for a national anti-bullying policy across all Nigerian schools.

Executive Director, United Women Voice Int’l Foundation, Favour Henshaw, said Nigeria is due for an anti-bullying policy to tame the unfortunate trend in private and public schools.

She said bullying and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) represent significant challenges for children and adolescents, often leaving lasting scars on their psychological well-being.

“While each phenomenon has been extensively discussed, understanding their interconnectedness with juvenile delinquency provides valuable insights for intervention and prevention efforts. Children who experience adverse childhood experiences such as physical or emotional abuse, neglect, or household dysfunctions are more likely to be involved in bullying, either as perpetrators or victims”, she noted.

She further stated that individuals who engage in bullying behaviour may exhibit a range of risk factors associated with delinquency, including aggression, impulsivity, and defiance of authority.