The Kogi Government condemned the incident that resulted in the death of Sylvester Oromoni Jnr, a student at Dowen College in Lekki, Lagos State, in its entirety on Tuesday.
The Kogi government issued the condemnation through the Public Defender’s Office and the Citizens’ Rights Commission (PDCRC).
Recall that on Nov. 30, a 12-year-old boy, Sylvester Oromoni Jnr, a student at the school, died from injuries sustained after allegedly being tortured by some students for refusing to join their cult group.
Mr Abdullahi Zakari, Director-General of the Kogi PDCRC, condemned the act at a news conference held in the commission’s office at the state secretariat in Lokoja.
Zakari stated that the conference was entirely in response to what had recently occurred in Lagos, which could occur in any state.
He advised Kogi school administrators to take responsibility for ensuring the protection of children’s rights enshrined in the Constitution and the State Child Rights Law, 2009.
“It must be emphasized that the Governor of Kogi, Yahaya Bello, has actually directed the commission to respond to issues that directly touch on our mandates in his proactive approach to issues.”
“One of these issues was the recent viral news of Sylvester Oromoni’s death as a result of bullying at Dowen College in Lekki, Lagos.”
“It must be emphasized that the Kogi Government and the PDCRC office condemned the entire act as barbaric, and that Lagos state is not an outlier, as it could happen in any other state, including Kogi.”
“It is critical that we remind ourselves that the Kogi Government established this commission and will not sit back and watch school operators encourage bullying in any form.”
“Because it constitutes a violation of children’s human rights.” Bullying is not acceptable; it is a violation of human rights of the victim particularly the student.
“As a parent, the governor is distressed; he does not want this to happen in Kogi.”
“The governor expresses condolences to the Lagos State Government and the late Sylvester’s family, and also warns schools that every child has rights, and school operators must ensure that these rights are religiously and jealously protected,” he said.
According to Zakari, the Kogi PDCRC is speaking as a commission responsible for driving the protection of rights, and in doing so, we must ensure that the rights of all students, teachers, and parents are protected.
“We need to continue to educate ourselves that it is no longer business as usual, especially in Kogi,” he said.
He noted that Kogi also ran boarding schools and advised the schools to take the necessary precautions to ensure that students in boarding houses were well secured and cared for, as well as to accept responsibility if anything went wrong.
He emphasized that the circumstances surrounding what occurred in Lagos should concern every right-thinking member of society, including parents and governments.
“It is no longer news that bullying in various forms occurs in our schools, and it is also a standard practice that most boarding schools have a House master who stays all night.”
“They, too, must rise to the occasion and accept responsibility.” As long as you run a boarding school, you must make certain that the fundamentals are in place.
“As a result, this is a clarion call because the Kogi Government will not support any form of violation of children’s rights for the sake of being in school,”
He emphasized that the state government would not tolerate such indecent behavior and warned that such people would face the full force of the law.
As a result, he urged the general public to speak up and report cases of gender violence and all that it entails, such as defilement and rape.
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