Nigerian sport journalist and enthusiast Ikio Annabel Biobelemoye speak up against social media bullying one year after she experienced trolls who insulted her facial composure in the pictures she had appeared on with Super Eagles players.
Biobelemoye had posted the picture she took with Ola Aina and Victor Boniface after Super Eagles Players harsh treatment at Libya during the 2024 African Cup of Nation, when the host country delayed the team and its management at the airport needlessly
The Sport Journalist had stated: “I’m so glad Ola Aina, Boniface and all my Super Duper Eagles are alright.”
However, her post took a turn for worst as trolls went under comment section not just to bully her, but insult her facial composure.
There were comments ranging from: @keneabraham “Boniface dey check whether na filter”,
@X6bish: “Na to keep u for shrine dy pour u kai-kai every morning”
Though there were few positive comments like: @abazwhyllzz: “Super happy tooo, looking forward to the next qualifiers. Lovely pictures, let’s go naija”
@Cleverlydey4u: “Please dear don’t let anybody bully you please You are awesome just the way you are!”, the sport journalist still described the experience as “entirely heartbreaking and traumatic.”
In her words: “One year later and I’m ready to speak. For someone who was bullied in secondary school, called smiggle from Lord of the Rings, hated mirrors and didn’t take photos as a result, but found her confidence, this was entirely heartbreaking and traumatic.
“For some time, everything i (confidence) I had built for years went down the drain. It was crazy. People think it’s just words but it’s not. When i was insulted here, it was carried on FB, used as memes on WhatsApp channels and I was getting tagged to all of it. I was dumbfounded.
At first, I was just laughing, I posted on WhatsApp and told my friends to send links to their businesses and I posted them under the tweet. But the insults kept coming, I kept reading them, and eventually they broke me and I didn’t know it had. I just found myself withdrawing.
“I was extremely quiet at home and I’m a bubbly person. My elder sister noticed, then saw what happened and the whole family knew. My friends and people i didn’t know, stood up for me on here and for that, I am well and truly grateful. I got better.
It didn’t take long before I shook it off. I was happy. I was me. But trauma is one sneaky bastard. My first coverage back at the Super Eagles camp, subconsciously I was trying everything physically possible to make sure i looked ” beautiful.” I went to the press
“Conference, training sessions, i was happy, then suddenly i was in total despair. I went to a corner and cried until I got to my lodge. That day, i couldn’t appear on camera to do content. I was so mad at myself, but that was the last day. I realised i just needed to release everything I was bottling. Fast forward to today, I’ve never been more confident.
“This is my attempt to be open. But it’s bigger than that; I want people to realise that it’s never just words. I want people to choose kindness and most importantly, I want those who struggle with self-confidence to know that they can come out stronger. You are enough”
By: Adeoye Olorunseun Elizabeth
