Daniel Otera
A courtroom in Plateau State delivered a haunting verdict this week. A final-year student of Government Science Technical College, Bukuru, has been sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of a teacher during a school meal session shedding light on a disturbing intersection of youth violence, failed discipline, and institutional neglect in Nigeria’s public education system.
On Tuesday, Justice Silas Bakfur of the Plateau State High Court in Jos found 21-year-old Odey Emmanuel guilty of killing his teacher, Job Dashe, during a routine lunch session in July 2022.
The court described the attack as “deliberate and premeditated”, and handed down the ultimate punishment of death by hanging.
What began as a minor disciplinary issue escalated into a fatal confrontation. Mr Dashe had reportedly caught Mr Emmanuel attempting to take a double portion of food during the supervised meal session. His attempt to enforce order was met with a violent response. In the heat of a verbal argument, the student drew a knife and stabbed the teacher in the chest.
Efforts to save Mr Dashe’s life failed.
He was pronounced dead on arrival at Mercy Seat Hospital.
“It was a senseless act of violence over something as trivial as food,” one teacher who testified anonymously in court said.
The Plateau State Ministry of Justice, led by Attorney-General Philemon Daffi and represented by Chief State Counsel Nanfe Mbap and Solomon Deme, brought five witnesses before the court. These included school officials, medical responders, and law enforcement officers—all corroborating the prosecution’s case.
Justice Bakfur, in his ruling, stated: “The evidence before this court points to a wilful act, executed with clear intent. The court finds the defendant guilty of culpable homicide punishable with death.”
The murder of Mr Dashe, while deeply tragic, is not an isolated occurrence. It reflects a troubling pattern of violence affecting schools in Plateau State and across Nigeria’s Middle Belt where rising insecurity, bullying, and unresolved tensions have increasingly turned educational spaces into zones of vulnerability.
Recent research conducted by the University of Jos underscores the scale of the crisis. A 2025 study titled “Impact of Conflict on Secondary School Education in Jos Jarawa Community”, which surveyed students and teachers in Jos North Local Government Area, revealed that ongoing community conflict and school-based violence have significantly disrupted learning outcomes.
The study found that prolonged insecurity contributes to increased student absenteeism, mental health strain, and frequent clashes between students and school authorities.
Another 2024 academic paper from the University of Jos, which examined the effectiveness of crime prevention approaches in school environments, reported that many educational institutions across Plateau lack the physical security and behavioural policies needed to prevent internal violence. The researchers noted that poorly secured school premises, combined with inadequate counselling services, create conditions where aggression and retaliation among students often go unchecked.
A related 2023 regional survey of 400 secondary school students in Jos Metropolis found that over 60% had either witnessed or experienced acts of bullying and physical confrontation on school grounds. The study, published in the Journal of Educational Thought and Evaluation, highlighted a growing trend of peer-led violence and diminishing respect for authority figures, including teachers.
“Schools are becoming increasingly unsafe not because of external attackers, but from within their own student population,” said a teacher in Jos who requested anonymity. “We face verbal abuse and threats, and it’s getting worse every term.”
The Plateau State Ministry of Education has yet to issue a formal response to these findings. However, civil society groups, including the National Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN), have repeatedly urged state governments to implement conflict resolution frameworks and strengthen school counselling units.
Patterns of violence in Nigeria’s school system particularly in the North-Central region have shown a steady rise in recent years.
A 2023 statement from the CLEEN Foundation, a national organisation tracking crime and safety, warned of “an increasing wave of criminality and violence” in the region, particularly within educational institutions. While exact national figures on student-on-teacher attacks remain scarce, education officials and security experts acknowledge that such incidents are becoming more frequent and more brutal.
Academic studies from the University of Jos reinforce these concerns. In a peer-reviewed 2022 study published by the Department of Educational Psychology, 41 per cent of secondary school students surveyed in Jos Metropolis admitted to having either witnessed or engaged in acts of violence on school grounds. The study pointed to poor conflict resolution systems, overwhelmed school staff, and inadequate disciplinary structures as key contributors.
Education experts argue that chronic underfunding and deprivation have created fertile ground for frustration and aggression. The conflict that led to Mr Dashe’s death reportedly stemmed from a disagreement over food portions, something many might consider trivial. However, in under-resourced public schools, disputes over meals are not uncommon.
While the Federal Government’s National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) has improved access to food for pupils in some primary schools, many state-run secondary schools including Government Science Technical College in Bukuru fall outside its coverage.
Public budget records show that Plateau State reduced its allocation to school feeding programmes by over 35 per cent between 2021 and 2023, making the situation even more fragile. The Journal reviewed budget estimates published by the state’s Ministry of Finance, which showed year-on-year declines in meal provision funding across technical colleges.
“When students feel hungry, neglected, or unseen, they respond emotionally and sometimes violently,” said a retired principal from Barkin Ladi, Plateau State. “Discipline alone cannot solve what is essentially a problem of scarcity.”
Although the Plateau High Court delivered its sentence in accordance with Nigerian law, the use of capital punishment particularly for young offenders remains a subject of growing national and international concern.
According to Amnesty International’s Global Report: Death Sentences and Executions 2023, published in May 2024, Nigeria recorded 246 death sentences in 2023 the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. The organisation noted that many of those sentenced were young men from low-income backgrounds, raising questions about access to legal defence and the fairness of the justice process.
“Capital punishment cannot fix the deeper societal rot,” Amnesty stated in the report. “We must tackle the root causes of poverty, violence normalisation, and broken school systems.”
Amnesty’s findings also revealed that Nigeria retained one of the largest death row populations in the world, with over 3,400 people awaiting execution as of the end of 2023.
Despite this, the country did not carry out any executions during the year.
While public sentiment around justice for violent crimes remains strong, human rights organisations continue to call for a moratorium on the death penalty and advocate for reforms that focus on rehabilitation especially for offenders under the age of 25. Mr Dashe’s death is not just the story of a teacher killed. It reflects the deeper fragility of Nigeria’s public education system, where teachers are overworked, school security is often compromised, and welfare support for both staff and students remains inadequate.
A 2022 investigative report by BusinessDay described how “overworked, poorly-equipped teachers drown in overcrowded classrooms,” with pupil–teacher ratios in some public schools exceeding 100 to one far above the recommended UNESCO standard.
In addition, insecurity remains a pressing concern. According to a report by Nigerian Tribune, over 11,500 schools across the North-West and North-Central regions have been closed due to attacks, kidnappings, and violence, affecting more than 1.3 million children.
While justice has now been served in the courtroom, the real justice lies in addressing these systemic failings to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
