Tamale: Investigations into assault on three teachers commence as colleagues continue strike in solidarity

Investigations have commenced into the alleged assault on the headmaster of the Nyohini Junior High School B, and two others in the Tamale Metropolis by unidentified men, last Thursday.

Following the incident, various teacher unions in Tamale boycotted academic activities and petitioned the Metro Education Directorate and the Ghana Police Service on ensuring that they get the perpetrators and have them punished, reports graphic.com.gh.

Narrating what happened on Thursday, January 29, 2021, Reverend Lawrence Yiripari said that from nowhere, as he was in his office on the day, some well-built men entered and begun assaulting him.

“They quickly entered my office, held my smock, and started slapping me, without any provocation”.

He continued that after subjecting him to several slaps, they dragged him out of his office to the school compound, in the full glare of students and colleague teachers, and continued to assault him.

“Apart from putting my life in danger, as I didn’t know what will happen next, it was very embarrassing as the students came out to watch what was happening. None of the attackers said anything and I don’t know what caused it,” he narrated.

Superintendent Baba Ananga, the Northern Regional Police Crime Officer, told the Daily Graphic that the headteacher made a report on the attack to them and they have since begun a manhunt for those behind the act.

“We trying to identify those people and then ask the headteacher and also get members of the community as well to assist in the investigation,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Spokesperson for the Conference of Heads of Basic Schools in Tamale, Bismarck Kwando Ampomah suspects that some teachers in the school are behind the acts.

He stated that although the real motive behind the attack was not immediately known, he had no doubt that they could just be teachers from the same school.

“We realized that it had to do with the mass internal transfer done by the directorate somewhere in November last year. We believe that these teachers are resisting these transfers and because they cannot come out openly to cause such harm, they have influenced the community to come in because the mindset is that the headteacher is causing the transfers,” he noted.

Since then, teachers in the metropolis have boycotted academic activities, unyielding to please from the Northern Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service, Dr. Peter Attafuah, for them to return to the classrooms as investigations continue.

The teachers maintain that this is not an isolated incident since many of them have also received several forms of threats on their lives, in the line of duty.