On July 4th, 2025, Okaha Women and Children Development Organisation (OWACDO), with support from the ASHH Foundation, Bauchi, held a powerful anti-bullying campaign at NKST Secondary School, IDYE, Makurdi. The campaign is part of OWACDO’s commitment to fostering safe, inclusive, and supportive learning environments for school-age children in Benue State.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Creating Safe Spaces for Learning
The event featured interactive awareness sessions with students and teachers on identifying, preventing, and responding to bullying in schools. With over 200 students and teachers in attendance, the sensitization campaign emphasized the importance of empathy, communication, and reporting abusive behavior. It also addressed cyberbullying, peer pressure, and the psychosocial impacts of bullying on adolescents.
Mrs. Joy Aricha Ijuwo, Executive Director of OWACDO, noted in her address that:
“Every child deserves a school environment where they feel safe, respected, and free to express themselves without fear. Bullying breaks confidence and destroys lives. Together, we must stop it.”
Linking Anti-Bullying to Broader Protection Goals
This anti-bullying campaign at NKST Secondary School marks a significant milestone in OWACDO’s youth protection efforts in Makurdi. It was strategically timed alongside OWACDO’s ongoing participation in the STEAP Project—a four-year School Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project supported by ICMPD and NAPTIP and funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Participants were guided on identifying the signs of bullying, building peer support systems, and fostering teacher-student collaboration to promote a zero-tolerance approach to abuse and intimidation. The campaign also drew connections between bullying and broader protection issues such as child trafficking and mental health.
OWACDO expresses deep gratitude to the ASHH Foundation for their steadfast support in making this impactful outreach possible. The event concluded with a powerful student pledge to speak up, stand together, and support victims of bullying in their school.
“We now know that staying silent makes it worse. Today we learned to speak up and look out for one another,” said Mary, a student participant.
The team plans to replicate this model in other secondary schools across Guma, Gwer West, and Makurdi LGAs in the coming months.
