Namtira Bwala, a Lead British International School, Abuja student, has taken legal action against the school.
The lawsuit, filed on May 9, 2024, at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, concerns the school’s responsibility to provide a safe and conducive learning environment.
The legal action comes in the wake of a viral video online showing Bwala being subjected to bullying by a fellow student.
The victim’s family attributed the distressing ordeal to the school’s alleged failure to uphold its duty to provide a secure and nurturing educational environment.
Bwala’s suit, marked FCT/HC/CV/2341/24 and represented by Marvin Omorogbe, Esq, Founding Partner for Deji Adeyanju and Partners, seeks significant redress.
Among the demands were a public apology to be published in two national dailies and N500 million in general damages.
“An order directing the Defendant to issue a public apology to the Clamant in two national daily newspapers. An order directing the Defendant to pay the Claimant the sum of N500,000,000.00 (Five Hundred Million Naira) as general damages for the Defendant’s breach of the duty of care it owes to the Claimant, and its negligent conduct in failing to prevent the assault, torment, emotional distress, pain, trauma and breach of privacy suffered by the Claimant while under the Defendant’s custody and supervision.
The lawsuit revolves around the alleged failure of the school’s management to prevent and address Bwala’s bullying.
The claim asserts that the school’s purported negligence extends to not promptly informing Bwala’s parents of the incident and delaying an investigation until the matter gained traction on social media.
Omorogbe expressed optimism regarding the lawsuit’s potential impact in instigating essential changes within the school system to prevent similar occurrences.
No date has been fixed for hearing on the case at the time of writing this report.
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