The House of Representatives on Tuesday mandated the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali-Baba to immediately take over the investigation, prosecution and punishment of the culprits involved in the death of Sylvester Oromoni, a 12-year-old student of Dowen college in the Lekki Area of Lagos.
The House condemned the recent incidents of inhuman treatment and abuses in boarding schools across the country and mandated its Safety Standard and Education Committees to conduct a review of safety regulation and guidelines in schools.
It also called for the placement of names of the five students allegedly involved in the heinous crime on ‘no fly list’ while social workers be sent to every school in the country so that they can look into such matters and commiserate with the victim’s family.
The Green Chamber urged the Federal Ministry of Education to set out guidelines for the operation of boarding schools across the country and directed its Committees on Education, Youth Development and Women Affairs and Social Development to follow up with the investigation and report back within two weeks for further legislative action.
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These resolutions followed the adoption at plenary on Tuesday, of a motion sponsored by Unyime Idem (PDP, Akwa-Ibom who lamented the several incidences of abuses in boarding schools and called on the Federal Government to launch a National campaign to curb ugly happenings in schools.
Idem said: “Why there’s no way to make broad conclusion as to whether boarding school are good or bad, some recent development in Nigeria have triggered public outcry as many share their experiences, notes that the social media has been agog in the past few days following the report on Sylvester Oromoni, a 12 years old boy who recently passed away on 27th November 2021, while nursing multiple internal injuries alleged to have been sustained after he was beaten by his fellow students, who were bullying him at a boarding school.
“Another incident leading to the death of 14 year old Karen Happuch of premier academy Lugbe Abuja on 22nd June, is one that left many heartbroken as parents narrated how she was sexually assaulted and later died as a result of a condom left in her private part, six months later there’s still no news of a suspect being arrested.”
Similarly, the House mandated its Committees on Woman Affairs, Human Rights and Police Affairs to invite stakeholders to investigate the allegations of the unwillingness of the Nigeria Police Force to initiate an investigation into the death of Keren-Happuch Akpagher.
Keren–Happuch, was a 14–year old SS1 boarding student of Premiere Academy, Lugbe, Abuja, who was raped and eventually died on 22 June 2021 from medical complications as a result of rape.
Therefore, the lawmakers while adopting the prayers of a motion sponsored by Mark Gbillah (PDP, Benue) mandated the relevant Committees to probe allegations of harassment and threat to the life of Keren’s family and the leader of an NGO and his family.
The Committees are to also probe previous cases of sexual harassment at Premiere Academy Abuja, other incidents of violence against women in Nigeria and probable lapses by other relevant agencies handling the incident and report back within six weeks for further legislative action.
The House further urged the Nigeria Police to carry out DNA test, recover spermatozoa and test Premiere Academy staff to identify anyone liable and bring him to justice.
