One bright morning of September 2001, my second day in government secondary school Owerri, I was a fresh and excited new student in JSS1.

I enthusiastically went in search of my cousin, he was in SS2B , he told me so. It was somehow customary, an unwritten law that when you are new in a school, you warm up to your brothers, neigbour or family friends who are in the same school but seniors. Even your parents will tell you to, that senior colleague will even check on you occasionally, come home with you if you live in the same place. I would think it was for guidance and maybe protection, by all means scratch that, it was definitely for protection even though few people will be willing to admit.

The clearest empirical evidence is in the fact that the more notorious your senior brother or senior friend was in school, the less likely anybody will mess with you. But that’s by the way.

That fateful morning, I went in search of my cousin, I traced those wearing trousers to their block and immediately looked conspicuously odd with my pair of sky blue shorts, seniors wear trousers.
I walked up to one I believed was most friendly faced and asked for the direction to SS2B, I got hard slap and “commot here” as a response, a sinister renumeration for my naivety. The ones who felt sympathy for me were angry at whoever asked me to come looking for him there being aware of the consequences. How brave I was to go to the senior block, one teacher who recognized me warned me never to go there again.

As I matured into the school which was mostly a day school, I realized I was to all intents and purposes, lucky. It could have been worse, I could have lost all my money. In fact, the bully who slapped and ordered me out was a milder bully, he saved me from bigger bullies. His junior brother was my classmate and I got to know the family. He is here on Facebook too, offering opinion on bullies. But that’s by the way.

Source:https://imoflash.com/ndi-imo/dowen-encounter-with-bullies-in-my-jss1

You see, by the time I got to a senior class, I would have been subconsciously trained on bullying junior ones. We would seize their stuffs and intimidate the ones we could. Some would collect junior student’s money and all. The junior students will do same when it got to their turn and the circle continues. The bad ones would take it to an extreme level and dish out unnecessary wickedness in the name of disciplining someone who is neither your child nor your student just because you are few classes/age higher or you are simply stronger and stupid.

During my time, it was worse in Federal girls and Owerri girls boarding schools, for the stories we heard were horrible. In government college, if you generally avoid your seniors, respect them and wear the correct uniform, stay in your clsss, you are good, save for few instances when they come into the classes.

Many of you calling those Dowen college kids evil were bullies in your secondary school, you probably got lucky no one died accidentally through your highhandedness. You flogged and beat up your fellow students like it was the sole duty of your lives and got away with it.

The biggest complicity comes partly from parents and mostly the schools. I don’t see students getting expelled or suspended for bullying unless they cause real damage. Like driving a car with bad brake, knowing it will fail but you ignore it, you only wait for it fail and you hit another car before you change it. What happened in Dowen college is a typical example of ignoring a bad brake, now the brake failed and unfortunately the victim didn’t survive.

Op i go sabi u,if i see ur pics.You remember Sir Ninja?you remember dat our principal wey dy use people bags take catch students wey leave class.These cultism of a tin starts right from secondary school.

My encounter with bullies was when I was in SS1 in Unity school Agbarho, Delta state.

It was a mixed school with boarding and day students. Only boys were allowed in the boarding houses while the day students were a mix of boys and girls.

One fateful week, I was not in school and had gone home for treatment when a senior student claimed that he lost his transistor radio and all the boys in the hostel must pay.

All of these happened when I was not in the school, so when I came back, I was told to pay for the lost radio knowing fully well that I was not in school when the radio was stolen.

All my pleas fell on deaf ears and the beatings began. The SS3 students in the dorm began to bully me at the slightest opportunity because he claimed that I was claiming rights because I was in SS1 and also a senior student.

Ultimately, the senior prefect joined in the beating one morning and I was given a deadline to pay or not stay in school that day.

Having no money on me, I decided to go back home to Warri that same day so I started to trek... From Agbarho to Warri... I started trekking all alone as a young boy.

I began the trekking from Agbarho around 12pm in the afternoon till I got to Warri around 10pm in the night.

I could have died, been kidnapped or been eaten by wild animals...

What happened afterwards is a story for another day.

PlayerMeji:
My encounter with bullies was when I was in SS1 in Unity school Agbarho, Delta state.

It was a mixed school with boarding and day students. Only boys were allowed in the boarding houses while the day students were a mix of boys and girls.

One fateful week, I was not in school and had gone home for treatment when a senior student claimed that he lost his transistor radio and all the boys in the hostel must pay.

All of these happened when I was not in the school, so when I came back, I was told to pay for the lost radio knowing fully well that I was not in school when the radio was stolen.

All my pleas fell on deaf ears and the beatings began. The SS3 students in the dorm began to bully me at the slightest opportunity because he claimed that I was claiming rights because I was in SS1 and also a senior student.

Ultimately, the senior prefect joined in the beating one morning and I was given a deadline to pay or not stay in school that day.

Having no money on me, I decided to go back home to Warri that same day so I started to trek... From Agbarho to Warri... I started trekking all alone as a young boy.

I began the trekking from Agbarho around 12pm in the afternoon till I got to Warri around 10pm in the night.

I could have died, been kidnapped or been eaten by wild animals...

What happened afterwards is a story for another day.

at least what ever happened makes you stronger

No b lie...

That day is actually in the number one spot of days I can't forget.

Danjikanbauchi:
at least what ever happened makes you stronger