Before You Press Share: Nigeria's Viral Bullying Videos and the Children Inside Them

In March 2026, Nigeria watched children hurt other children. At Igbinedion Education Centre in Benin City, older boarders were caught on film assaulting a younger boy. Around the same time, videos of bullying at Lead British International School in Abuja, which had circulated earlier, began resurfacing. The reaction across the country was immediate. There was widespread outrage, and schools came under increasing pressure to put proper anti-bullying policies and reporting systems in place, systems that children can actually trust and use.

I have written several times about what happened in these schools. But this time, I want us to look at something else, something that sits alongside the bullying itself and that many of us participated in without stopping to think. I am talking about the video. We watched it. We shared it. We forwarded it to others. And behind every one of those shares was a real child experiencing one of the worst moments of his school life.

What the camera showed

The footage from Benin City was deeply disturbing. Channels Television reported that "In the footage circulating on social media, two students were seen repeatedly beating, kicking and dragging a boy". Radio Nigeria described how "One of the attackers was seen dragging the victim by his suit and stomping on his chest while the boy cried in pain." There is another detail that I find particularly important. According to Channels Television, "another student, believed to be recording the video, pleaded with the attackers to stop."

I keep thinking about that child holding the phone. He was not simply a spectator watching something happen. He was another child, frightened by what he was witnessing, unable to stop the violence with his own hands. Perhaps he felt that recording was the only thing he could do to make sure someone would eventually listen.

The video did what the reporting systems did not

We need to acknowledge something uncomfortable here. The video worked. According to notJustOk, "The viral footage, which began circulating on Friday, March 13, 2026" and within days, the entire country was discussing what had happened. Radio Nigeria reported that "The video triggered widespread outrage on social media, prompting disciplinary action by school authorities."

The police also responded quickly. The Edo State Police Command said that "the police authorities are aware of the viral video circulating on social media" and that the police chief "has directed the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the area to proceed to the school". The Command added: "The Command wishes to assure the general public that the perpetrators involved in the bullying incident will be arrested". Kassim Afegbua, the Edo State Commissioner for Information, described the incident by saying, "It is quite disturbing." He also said, "We took immediate action that led to the expulsion of the students involved."

The school itself acknowledged the seriousness of what had happened, saying, "The behavior shown in the video is deeply disturbing". The public reaction was enormous. notJustOk wrote that "The level of violence depicted in the video sparked immediate condemnation from Nigerians across the globe" and that thousands of users "have called for a complete overhaul of anti-bullying policies in private institutions".

And this brings me to a question I believe every school should be asking itself: why did it take a viral video for people to pay attention? In too many schools, a child's complaint can be dismissed, overlooked or quietly pushed aside. But when that same complaint appears on social media, everyone suddenly pays attention. If a phone and the internet are more effective at protecting children than the reporting systems within our schools, then we have a serious problem that needs to be addressed.

The child inside the frame

I want us to pause and think about the boy on that floor. His most vulnerable moment was replayed repeatedly by strangers, relatives, classmates and even children who may become his classmates in the future. The footage can remain searchable for years. Every time someone shared it, they helped draw attention to the incident and the need for accountability. But every share also increased the child's exposure. We have to remember that children have a right to dignity and privacy, even when they are victims of something as serious as bullying.

Nigeria has faced a similar situation before. In 2022, during a different school scandal, the National Human Rights Commission described the exposure of a child in a circulating video as "a gross violation of the child's right to privacy." It said such conduct was "not allowed under the child rights Act 2003." The Commission urged "social media users to refrain from reckless comments" and warned that it is "unacceptable to quickly make reckless comments on an issue that is still under investigation."

I believe that same principle applies here. A child who has been bullied does not lose the right to privacy simply because a video of the incident has gone viral. Being a victim does not mean that your most painful experience should become public property. We can demand accountability without making the child who suffered carry the additional burden of public exposure.

When the internet gets it wrong

There is another problem we should not overlook. Viral videos often encourage people to speculate, make assumptions and identify people without having the facts. Sometimes, those assumptions cause further harm to people who may have nothing to do with the incident.

We saw this when the Lead British videos circulated in 2024. Social media users wrongly claimed that the girl being attacked was the daughter of a well-known lawyer. Africa Check investigated the claim, and the lawyer denied it, saying, "I have reported the incident to law enforcement because it could have been anybody's daughter." He also praised the girl for "showing restraint and not retaliating".

I think his response deserves attention. It could have been anybody's daughter. That is precisely why we must be careful about attaching names, schools, families and personal stories to videos we have watched for just thirty seconds. We do not always know the full story behind a clip. We may not know the identities of the children involved, what happened before the recording started or what happened afterwards. Sharing unverified information can create another layer of harm for children and their families. As adults, we have a responsibility to exercise judgement, particularly when children are involved.

What I would ask of all of us

For schools, I want to make one thing very clear: please do not wait for a video to tell you what is happening in your boarding houses. Children need reporting systems they can trust. This means providing anonymous reporting options, making sure complaints are taken seriously and ensuring that children know which adults they can approach when something goes wrong. The first quiet complaint deserves the same attention as a video that has been viewed thousands of times. In fact, it deserves attention before the situation becomes a public scandal. When a child feels the need to record bullying because they believe no adult will listen, that should concern every school leader. It is a sign that the systems meant to protect children are not working as they should.

For parents, I encourage you to have honest conversations with your children about bullying, including what they should do when they witness it. We need to teach them that standing up for someone who is being bullied does not always mean confronting the aggressor physically. Recording an incident can sometimes help preserve evidence, but the first response should be to seek help from a responsible adult. Any recording should be shared with the appropriate people, such as the school, the parents or the authorities, rather than circulated in group chats or posted online.

For the rest of us, I would like us to develop the habit of pausing before we press share. Ask yourself a simple question: who is this video actually helping? If the school and the police already know about the incident, sharing the footage again may do little more than give more strangers an opportunity to watch a child being hurt. Report it instead of reposting it. If you need to discuss the incident publicly, blur the faces. Above all, never name a child. We must learn to distinguish between raising awareness and exposing a vulnerable child. They are not the same thing.

The March videos forced Nigeria to have an important conversation about bullying, and I do not want us to lose sight of that. Schools must be held accountable, children must be protected, and anti-bullying policies must move beyond words on paper to become part of everyday school life.

But we should also remember what the real purpose of all this attention should be. It was never about making a child famous because someone hurt him. The real goal is to create schools where children feel safe, where they know they will be heard when they speak up, and where adults take responsibility for protecting them. Ultimately, I want us to build schools that are safe enough that no child ever feels they need a camera just to be believed.

References

1. Igwe, Ignatius. "Police Probe Viral Igbinedion School Assault Case." Channels Television, 15 March 2026. https://www.channelstv.com/2026/03/15/police-probe-viral-igbinedion-school-assault-case/

2. Kanmodi, Funmilayo. "Davido Reacts to the Igbinedion Education Centre Bullying Incident." notJustOk, 15 March 2026. https://notjustok.com/news/davido-reacts-to-the-igbinedion-education-centre-bullying-incident/

3. Radio Nigeria Lagos. "Edo Government Orders Arrest, Prosecution Over Viral School Bullying." March 2026. https://radionigerialagos.gov.ng/?p=38956

4. National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria. "Ojukwu Says Undue Exposure of Alleged Child Victim of Sex Video Tape at Chrisland School Is a Violation of the Rights of the Child to Privacy." 21 April 2022. https://nhrc.nigeriarights.gov.ng/nhrc-media/news-and-events/333-ojukwu-says-undue-exposure-of-alleged-child-victim-of-sex-video-tape-at-chrisland-school-is-a-violation-of-the-rights-of-the-child-to-privacy.html

5. Africa Check. "Prominent Nigerian Lawyer Daniel Bwala Denies That Victim in Viral Bullying Video Is His Daughter." April 2024. https://www.africacheck.org/fact-checks/meta-programme-fact-checks/prominent-nigerian-lawyer-daniel-bwala-denies-victim-viral