A worrying trend is beginning to emerge where students, parents, and other family members assault teachers for simply trying to enforce discipline and instil proper conduct.
Many of these assaults never make it to the media; teachers bear their hurt and intimidation quietly. But the latest incident to capture public attention occurred in Ondo State on May 26, when the vice principal of Complete Child Development College, Aule, Akure North Local Government Area, Mr. Alexander Rotifa, was allegedly threatened and subsequently assaulted by hoodlums allegedly hired by one Mrs. Dorcas Asije.
The Vice Principal’s ‘sin’ was seizing Mrs. Asije’s son’s mobile phone, a student at the school, to prevent him from cheating in the then-ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
In our view, what followed was a series of reprehensible actions. The student’s mother and elder brother, an alumnus of the school, came to the school to threaten fire and brimstone if the boy was not allowed to cheat with his mobile phone during the mathematics examination. Afterwards, while the vice principal was in police company, hoodlums reportedly hired by the mother waylaid the police van, dragged the vice principal out, and brutally assaulted him.
According to reports, the Ondo State government swiftly took action. The police arrested Mrs. Asije and five other accomplices. They arraigned them in court on the charges of conspiracy, assault, assault occasioning harm, threat to life, breach of the public peace, impersonation, and attempted murder.
Instead of showing remorse and calling his errant family to order, the student’s father and husband to Mrs. Asije, Mr. Elisha Imoukhuede, wrote a petition to the Inspector-General of Police against the vice principal and teachers of the school, as well as the policemen from Okuta Elerinla Police Station.
This incident recalls other attacks on school authorities. On October 12, 2021, the police arrested one Abidemi Oluwaseun, 35, for invading Baptist Girls’ College Idi-Aba, Abeokuta in Ogun State, with hoodlums to assault a teacher who flogged his 15-year-old daughter. The teacher had whipped Oluwaseun’s daughter and some of her classmates for disrupting his class, mocking him, and distracting other students.
On November 16, 2021, the University of Ilorin expelled Salaudeen Waliyullah Aanuoluwa, a 400-level student in the Department of Microbiology, after she assaulted a female lecturer, Mrs. Zakariyyah, leaving her in a coma.
That same month, the parents of a female student at Jericho High School, Ibadan, brought thugs to beat up her teachers.
On February 13, 2025, authorities of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, expelled a student, Goddy-Mbakwe Chimamaka Precious, for assaulting a lecturer from the Department of Theatre and Film Studies, Dr. Chukwudi Okoye. She was caught video-biting the lecturer for interrupting her TikTok recording on campus.
If the above victims escaped with bruises, Mr. Joseph Ezeugo was not so fortunate. On December 2, 2021, Joseph, a teacher at a private school in Abraka, Delta State, died after being beaten to death by one of his students.
As a newspaper, we are appalled at the erosion of values that has permeated the family unit. The values of hard work, respect for elders, and respect for authority are no longer essential. Now, parents encourage their wards to cut corners and engage in crime. The notorious special/miracle examination centres, where candidates are aided and abetted to cheat, operate with the connivance of parents. Beyond the school environment, parents also acquiesce to or encourage their wards to engage in “yahoo” crimes—internet fraud and even ritual murder—in pursuit of quick wealth.
The family is a microcosm of society; its role in instilling the right values in its children is critical to society and the family itself. If the family fails in this responsibility, the whole society suffers. The erosion of family values directly correlates to societal decay. The examples listed above clearly show where the family has dropped the ball.
Schools are meant to instil both knowledge and character, but this goal is undermined when parents—who should reinforce discipline—partake in violence against school authorities.
We acknowledge that some overzealous teachers may sometimes go overboard trying to rein in errant students; however, there are better institutional means to address such issues than brutalising them.
Attacking them for trying to do their job will discourage them and allow indiscipline to fester among the youth. This is not an option.
We hold that teachers must be protected from such antisocial elements in their workplace. If they are afraid or discouraged from performing their role as agents of positive behavioural change, indiscipline will fester, and the result will be a decadent society.
Consequently, we urge the police and judiciary to ensure the speedy and diligent prosecution of the recent Ondo incident and other attacks on teachers in the line of duty. This will serve as a deterrent to those who may contemplate similar acts.
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