Lecturers who beat students in class: What can be done?

Earlier in 2024, a viral video surfaced on social media showing a lecturer disciplining students. In the video, a student was seen following the lecturer around by doing a frog jump and, in the same video, the lecturer was seen slapping some of the students and asking them to kneel in front of the class.

Following the posting of the video, the Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology in Wudil, Kano, suspended the lecturer.

Sai’du Abdullahi Nayaya, the deputy registrar of the institution, later confirmed in a statement that the suspended staff member would face further disciplinary proceedings.

What happened on that day?

Abdullahi Abdulmaleek, a fourth-year environmental science student at the university and the president of the environmental science association in the faculty of health and environmental science, said the students were noisy in the lecture hall, which impelled the lecturer to send them out of the class.

When he noticed they were still disruptive outside the class, he gave them two options: either do a frog jump to enter the class or leave the vicinity of the lecture venue. Subsequently, he allegedly started beating them. Abdulmaleek condemned the actions of the lecturer as “totally unacceptable”.

“The school management has suspended him and handed him over to the disciplinary committee to investigate the matter,” he told University World News. But, so far, he was unaware of any further steps that have been taken.

Other incidents

But the incident at Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology is not an isolated one.

In November 2023, a lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University allegedly assaulted a student who strayed into a class where he was teaching. The second-year accidentally entered a fourth-year class, but left when he saw the unfamiliar faces.

The lecturer called the student back and alleged that the student had tried to impersonate. The lecturer then allegedly seized the student’s ID card and called security to arrest him. Next, the lecturer allegedly asked the security guard to take the student’s phone as the student attempted to call family members to tell them about the incident.

In a squabble for the student’s phone, the student’s neck was allegedly squeezed, his phone screen was broken, his right index finger broken and his trousers torn. The student was also punched on the back of his head before the security marched him out.

The students in the class witnessed the incident, captured on video.

Meanwhile, the Students’ Union spokesperson, Elijah Omisore, demanded action against the lecturer. Omisore at first told University World News that, although the matter had been investigated and a report was sent to the university’s management, he was unaware of the outcome.

“Even the student [in the video] seems to have reached an agreement, but I am not sure. He has not mentioned anything again. I think he is no longer interested in taking up the case, but then, the issue was with the investigating department, and I was told they were probing the lecturer.”

When University World News followed up on the matter later, Omisore said that the investigative unit had done their investigation and sent a report to the school management. The school management has not done anything further.

More incidents

In February 2024, a lecturer at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) was also seen in a viral video throwing punches at a student.

An eyewitness, Mary Joseph (not her real name), who was in class that day, narrated how it happened to University World News. She said students were attending a lecture when another classmate entered the class after the lecturer had arrived. The lecturer asked him to surrender his phone, but he refused.

“The lecturer had threatened that, if he failed to come [back] in class, he was going to carry over his course [fail him]. [When he did enter] ... the lecturer started throwing punches at him before security personnel separated them,” she told University World News.

She said she was upset over the issue, adding that the lecturer was teaching them the topic ‘Adolescents’ and he failed to put the topic he was teaching them into practice.

“It is very wrong of the lecturer to beat a student. Fighting with him is not right. The guy didn’t touch him, as shown in the video. I don’t think the school has taken any steps on it,” she stated.

There has been no official report from the ATBU school management on the issue.

Salam Aremu, (not the real name) a graduate from Kwara State College of Arabic and Islamic Studies, narrated how he dodged the slap from a lecturer for playing with his nails and, thereafter, the lecturer warned him not to enter his class any more. On the same day, he slapped another student for entering his class after he had already entered.

In another viral video in April 2023, an IMSU lecturer repeatedly slapped a student who wore ‘mufti’ [ordinary clothes] to class.

However, after the suspension, no statement has been released from the school on the outcome of the various disciplinary committees that had investigated the incident.

What factors are contributing to these incidents?

Jeph Oluwagbemiga, a psychologist and public health consultant, told University World News that society is changing, but the older generation of lecturers is still adopting old methods of discipline, which involves corporal punishment. He noted that these lecturers [included in the case studies in this article] are using an authoritarian approach through force, instead of an authoritative approach.

He explained that work pressure and economic hardship are part of the factors that contribute to these incidents, but they are not excuses for lecturers to mete out punishment on students, adding that the lecturers need emotional intelligence to manage their responses.

He added that the failure of managements to sanction erring lecturers is another factor responsible for the problem.

“I finished university in 1992, and I know that all the [disciplinary] panels set up have lecturers serving on them, and they work in caucus, so nothing will happen after the conclusion of the investigation. They cannot indict [other lecturers]. They can only indict a lecturer if the government looks into the matter. Until we begin to ensure equity [in the handling of cases], some of these things will not stop,” he said.

He stated that the solution to this problem is that government institutions such as the National Orientation Agency should be organising orientation sessions for both students and lecturers on how to relate to each other, and the family, community and parents should train their children on how to behave in society.

He said: “There must be unconditional positive regard for the humanity of people. That is how dialogue can happen. The university should have a system of cultural integration that can be used to orientate and integrate students into the system. In Nigeria, we have norms that lecturers cannot be wrong. That was why they thought they could beat the students. We also need to start changing religious institutions that glorify age,” said Oluwagbemiga.

Legal issues

Human rights lawyer Festus Ogun told University World News that the position of the law is clear on whether a lecturer has a legal right to torture students, noting that it is illegal and unconstitutional and a form of torture under the Anti-Torture Act 2017 and against Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which provides for the right to dignity of the human person and freedom from torture and degrading treatment.

“I do not think that the lecturer has that right in law to mete out corporal punishment to students. It is not only barbaric but also highly questionable. That shouldn’t happen in a sane and civilised society. It is unknown to law, especially in higher institutions where both the lecturer and the students are adults,” he said.

He added that Section 46(1) of the 1999 Constitution provides that, when a person’s fundamental rights have been breached, like the fundamental right of dignity of the human person, freedom from torture, and inhumane treatment, the students have a right under Section 46(1) to approach the court, whether the high court of a state or a federal high court, for redress for the violation of human rights.

“Assault is a crime under Nigerian criminal law, both the criminal code applicable in southern Nigeria and the penal code applicable in northern Nigeria. The students can also approach the police station to file a report so that criminal charges can be filed against the lecturer. This is not something that should be taken lightly. It is barbaric and an insult to our educational system.

“The university management should not abdicate its responsibility to hold the lecturers accountable because what they have done is questionable. I call on the schools to thoroughly investigate the matter and sanction the erring lecturers,” he told University World News.

He added that the students have rights, and those rights need to be respected by all authorities, which are school management, lecturers, and security agencies, adding that these acts persist because there are no consequences for impunity.

“Unless, and until, there are consequences for impunity, these acts will continue but, for now, there are no consequences, and that is why this has continued. The day we begin to see consequences from the actions of these lecturers, I believe there will be changes,” he stated.

Academic freedom

Comrade Hassan Taiwo Soweto, the national coordinator of the Education Rights Campaign, said: “A situation where teachers see themselves as masters that cannot be questioned, thereby turning the university into an oppression tool where it should not be. Why does the lecturer see himself as having the right to mete out corporal punishment?”

He explained further that the university managements have to raise their feet off the neck of student unionism and allow a culture of debate and intellectual disagreement on campuses to be able to engage in a constellation of ideas and allow academic freedom, which is the first factor in curbing this type of “monstrous behaviours” on campuses.

Soweto added: “The union should take a stand that would be proactive in trying to ... [do something about the] academic staff who do not represent the values of the union in terms of what we have seen today in their attitude towards their students. And if the Academic Staff Union of Universities [ASUU] also does not take proactive steps against these lecturers, they will continue to spoil the name of the university.

“ASUU should conduct regular sensitisation activities within the union to instil a new culture of genuine scholarship and respect for students among the lecturing population. ASUU must be able to apply punishment as needed to their members who may flout their values.”

Codes of conduct

Universities have codes of conduct that guide lecturers’ behaviour.

The ATBU Code of Conduct states that it is misconduct for lecturers to engage in stealing, immoral behaviour, assault, foul language, refusal to proceed on transfer or accept posting, and habitual lateness to duty, stating that anyone who violates the rule would be punished in these ways, which are: verbal or written warning, surcharge for loss or wilful damage to university property, or deferring increment, withholding of promotion, suspension, reduction in rank, interdiction, termination of appointment, and dismissal.

The UDUS Staff Code of Conduct states that the appointment of a staff member may be terminated by the council for any misconduct, gross inefficiency, or wilful refusal to perform duties for the university.

In the Code of Conduct for the OAU university community, there is a provision that a student shall not molest, intimidate, or harass university staff, the punishment for such a student who violates this rule is expulsion from the school.