There is a public disquiet following the death of a 12-year-old Junior Secondary School student of Federal Government College Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, Ufokobong Edwin Godwin, on Easter Sunday.
It was gathered that late Ufokobong was tortured in the school hostel by his senior student in Senior Secondary three (SS3) before the Easter holiday.
Narrating the incident, one of the students who lived in the same hotel with the deceased, said the Senior Student approached the victim for his provisions during the terminal examinations but the deceased colleague refused, insisting that he didn’t have enough to share.
He said, “A fellow student (a senior student in SS3) asked the boy for provisions, but he refused.
“The senior hit him on the neck, after which he went into a coma and other students raised the alarm prompting the compound master to come. He was rushed to hospital.
“He later regained consciousness in the hospital and was taken back to school. When the holiday came, the parents picked him up without being informed of any incident involving their son. (Perhaps the school did not think the injury was that serious.)”
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He said when the parents picked the boy up on closing day, the school management refused to inform them of what happened to the boy so as to continue medication at home during the Easter holiday.
It was gathered that at home, the boy developed severe pains on his neck and the parents bought pain relief drugs unknown to them that the incident was more than ordinary pains.
“When the incident becomes more severe, the father rushed the deceased to hospital where he died on Easter Sunday.
“Back home, the parents said the boy started complaining of throat pain on Wednesday, and they got medication for him.
“On Saturday night, the father called some of his friends (one of whom shared this story ), asking them to pray for his son, who had been taken to the hospital. By Sunday morning, around 1:00am, the boy passed on
“The hospital later confirmed that he d!ed from complications associated with blood clots around his throat (neck area),” as reported by Oga Yenne on Facebook.
Meanwhile, investigations have revealed that there were other cases of bullying in the college but much have not been done to address the issue.
One of the parents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that last year, a senior student in SS3 used box iron to hit a junior one on the head and the boy fainted.
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He said the school management rushed the student to University Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) where the boy spent more than one month for treatment after the school had spent over N200,000.
He alleged that bullying had continued in the college, while Parent Teachers Association and the school management looked the other way.
He disclosed that bullying has continued in the school unabated, including girls hostels where fellow students subjected their juniors to torture and other forms of punishment, while the management looked the other way.
“Last year some girls put their junior girls in a bag and zipped it until the child suffocated,”
Meanwhile, the family of the deceased student have called on the federal government to investigate the circumstances leading to death of their son.
Speaking, the father said though he is weakened by the incident, the government should intervene immediately for justice to prevail.
“I cannot talk now. I am calling on the federal government to intervene for justice. I will talk at appropriate time,” he said on phone.