DSS INVASION OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GIRLS COLLEGE CALABAR AND WHY WE SHOULD ALL LIFT UP OUR VOICES AND WAIL - Baba Isa
I
got a call in the morning of Thursday, February 2 from Architect Njor
Ntangha Tabi, a staff of Federal Government Girls College, Calabar. He
sounded agitated, frightened and incoherent. He was trying to say
something about DSS, students, teachers, beatings, bullets and
gunshots.
I tried
calming him down but it wasn't working. Incidentally I was in Calabar
for another assignment. I told him I will head out to the school once I
was done with my assignment. That didn't happened until hours later.
When
I got to the school, it was late in the evening. I met a rattled bunch
of teachers, all trying to tell me what happened at the same time. A
trained lawyer should know he won't get the gist of what happened in
such an excited babble. I just gleaned what I could and scheduled a
visit to the scene the following day and a series of interview in a
temporary office they agreed to arrange for me.
Friday.
3rd February. I went to the scene and held a series of interview and
came face to face with the grandfather of all impunity and the most
bizarre thing that ever happened in an academic institution since man
started learning how to read and write.
Mr
Owai Owai, a Civic Education teacher of over 17 years standing came to
class that fateful Thursday morning and found a junior student sweeping
the class of the SS3 students when classes was going on in the class of
the junior, against the school rules that junior students should not be
found sweeping the classes of seniors during school periods.
Mr
Owai was able to fish out about 10 seniors who asked the juniors to
sweep their class during school period contrary to school regulations.
He punished the seniors by flogging them on their palms, 2 strokes of
the cane each.
One of
the the seniors, Grace Loveth Asuquo, grabbed the teacher by the collar
of his shirt, protesting her flogging. The teacher was shocked and gave
her more strokes for her action. She told the teacher in front of the
students that her parents will burn down the school today and stormed
out of the class.
Mr
Owai continued teaching, unknown to him that Grace has called her mum,
who called her sister that is a DSS operative. Half way through the
class, the student's mum, her aunt who is a DSS operative and another
man, stormed the class, gestapo-style, took the teacher's canes and
flogged him mercilessly before his alarmed students.
When
the canes broke from the trashing of hapless Mr Owai, they descended on
his frail frame and rained torrents of blows and kicks on him. The
screams of the students alerted the teachers who came to the rescue.
Grace's
DSS operative aunt called for reinforcement and before you can say
"poor education funding", 3 Hilux load of DSS operatives stormed the
school.
The operatives
went berserk and started shooting sporadically and hitting teachers with
anything they could find: blows, kicks, stones, gun butts! Several
teachers sustained injuries from the assault and battery.
Some
ran into adjoining bushes and farms to save their lives. Some of the
teachers started taking pictures and videoing. When the DSS operatives
found out, they went after them, forcefully collecting their phones and
further brutalising them. Phones, monies, glasses and other valuables
were taken away by the operatives.
When
they were driving out, they found the gate locked. They beat up the
security men and shut the padlock open! They abducted the student, Grace
Loveth Asuquo and left the school premises.
The
entire staff and students of Federal Government Girls College community
are traumatized and frightened. Classes didn't hold on Friday, February
3rd because of this.
When
did we get here and how? The DSS, trained, armed and paid with tax
payers money; using the arms we bought for them to harass our teachers
before our children. What is this?
The management and staff of the school has instructed me to demand the following:
1. A written public apology from DSS published on NTA, Radio Nigeria and 4 national dailies.
2. An oral apology given at the Assembly Ground before staff and students
3. Outright dismissal and prosecution of the operatives involved in this barbaric act.
4. To foot the hospital bills of all staff who sustained injuries during the assault.
5. To return/pay for all lost or damaged items like phones, monies, glasses, etc
6. Replace the damaged school gate
7. Pay a 10 million naira compensation to the school.
I
have the further instruction of the staff to file a suit in a court of
competent jurisdiction to seek for redress and damages.
We
must all wail against the excesses of our law enforcement agents. Their
duty is to protect us and not to intimidate us. A formal petition has
been lodged with the appropriate authorities. But there is something we
can do here: let's stand up and shout against this barbaric intimidation
by the DSS, if we don't stand up now, there might be no one left to
stand tomorrow.
First Baba Isa, Esq.,
Legal Practitioner,
07037162029.
DSS INVASION OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GIRLS COLLEGE CALABAR AND WHY WE SHOULD ALL LIFT UP OUR VOICES AND WAIL - Baba Isa
Reviewed by getitrightnigerians
on
17:00:00
Rating:
Unbelievable
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