Military/Police "punish" Wa students

The Military and Police in Wa on Tuesday subjected students of Wa Secondary School to over 30 minutes drill under the scorching sun for burning down a school bungalow and resisting arrest.

The students, who were alleged to have burn down a staff bungalow, a Yamaha motorbike and vandalised the school's administration block, resisted arrest and resorted to stone throwing when confronted by the Military and Police personnel called in to restore order.

Inspector Daniel Dorkpoh, Regional Police Public Relations Officer, told the GNA that 14 students have been arrested for interrogation while three female students, who collapsed at the sight of the vandalism had been taken to hospital.

Mr Moses Donndyong, Headmaster of the school told the GNA that a group of students, believed to be leaders of a syndicate on campus, burnt down the staff bungalow on Saturday night amidst the shout of "Alahu Akbar, Alahu Akbar" (God is Great).

He said the Police were invited to arrest the suspects and this infuriated their colleagues. They rushed out of their classrooms and rained stones on the Police, the administration block and set any vehicle on sight ablaze.

Mr Donndyong said some members of staff were injured and were taken to hospital.

He said all the personal belongings of the occupants of the bungalow and school furniture were completely burnt.

Mr Donndyong said over 1,140 other students had intended to wage a counter-attack on their colleagues, who were misbehaving, but the Military/Police team prevented them.

Mr Callistus Haruna, whose belongings were burnt, said he earlier had a problem with some students, who refused to go for the early morning sporting activities and pretended to be praying when they saw him approaching.

He said he allowed them to finish before he confronted them. "Some of the students started running away and were shouting: "Anti Muslim" and threatened to teach me a lesson".

Mr Jacob Bagonluuri, Regional Director of Education, told the GNA that a School Disciplinary Committee would be set-up to investigate the incident and recommend appropriate sanctions. He, however, said normal school work would not be interrupted as adequate security measures would be put in place to ensure the safety of life and property.