A gang of senior secondary school pupils in Ogun State who reportedly beat a teacher, Kolawole Shonuga, for stopping one of them from cheating during an examination in their school, have been arrested by the state’s police.
Our correspondent gathered on Sunday that the incident occurred on Tuesday at Isanbi Comprehensive High School, Ilisan-Remo, in the Ikenne Local Government Area of the state.
It was further gathered that Shonuga, while invigilating the unified examination for the SS 1 Art class students, caught a pupil cheating and seized his paper.
Dissatisfied with the teacher’s action, the students after the school hours reportedly accosted the teacher and beat him up at the school’s gate.
Our correspondent gathered that policemen from the Remo Division later arrived at the scene and arrested about 10 of them.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omotola Odutola, confirmed the incident.
Odutola said Shonuga made a formal report on the alleged assault at Remo Police Division.
She also confirmed the arrest of 10 suspects.
While a police source hinted that the suspects had already been arraigned in court for assault, the PPRO did not confirm this.
The state Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, Felix Agbesanwa, frowned at the incident and insisted that the students must face the full wrath of the law to serve as a deterrent.
Agbesanwa said, “The incident is true and I have been briefed. Our stand is that any student who raises his hand against his teacher should face the full wrath of the law.
“There is no going back on that. No student must raise his hands against the teacher, whether Ogun Teach teachers or permanent teachers, a teacher is a teacher.
“They must be made to face the law to serve as deterrents. I learnt they have been charged to court already.”
The state government has also condemned the act and vowed that it would not condone acts of indiscipline by learners across the state.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Science and Technology, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu, handed down the warning in Abeokuta, the state capital while receiving the new Executive of the Mathematical Association of Nigeria.
“I am using this opportunity to advise parents to talk to their children, they should warn them because we won’t tolerate any indiscipline from any child. Any student that misbehaves in school will be dealt with appropriately,” he said.
In October 2021, no fewer than four cases of assault on teachers were recorded in different public schools in the State, forcing the government to introduce a compulsory undertaking signed by all the students and their parents to curb hooliganism.
