NUT threatens to shutdown schools over intimidation of principal, teacher
By Sadiq Abubakar, Abuja.
The Federal Capital Territory, FCT, wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) have threatened to shut down schools across the territory over intimidation of principal of the Junior Secondary School (JSS) Kagini in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) of the FCT, Mr Gordon Mmeo Promise and a teacher of the school, Rabi Abdullahi by the management of Divine Hope Orphanage home in the area.
Chairman of the FCT NUT, Comrade Abdullahi Mohammed Shafas, issued the threat when he visited the school alongside the state secretary of NUT Comrade Margaret F. Jethro, on Tuesday.
He said the operator of the Divine Hope Orphanage home, near the school, Mrs Grace Chibuzor, has been using security agents and some officials from the ministry of women affairs to intimidate the school principal and a female teacher over punishing of JSS III student of the school, Chioma Chibuzor.
He said a situation where a student is punished by a teacher for commiting an offense, there was no basis for parent of such child to invite security with hand cuffs to arrest or intimidate the school principal or teacher of such school.
“And as you know, a school is an institution where pupils/students are well built not where everyone does he want. So I want to believe that a situation where a student is punished for commiting an offense, a parent or person who operates an orphanage home should come directly to the school principal to ascertain the offense of such child but not to go and bring security agents with handcuffs to arrest such teacher for punishing her ward,” he said.
He said the operator of the orphanage home came to the school because of the punishment meted on one of the students and gave her phone numbers to students of the school to call her on phone should any teacher punish them.
“I can’t imagined this woman came to the and gave her phone number to students that they should call her should any teacher punish any student in the school. So I don’t what kind of children is she training in her orphanage home,’ he said.
He added, ” in fact, last week, the same woman who operates orphanage home came with some police men from Gwagwa police division and stationed at them at th entrance of the school, which is also an intimidation on our teachers,’.
” Can you also imagine that a DPO from Gwagwa division wrote to the school, inviting the principal to report himself and the teacher involved to the police station. I don’t know if the FCT police commissioner CP Benneth Igweh is aware of the situation. And we as a union, we are saying know as we have precedence of doing our things, ” he said.
The NUT chairman, however, said the union had written to the FCT minister Nyemso Wike and management of the FCT UBEB over the matter, saying the union will not hesitate to shutdown schools in the FCT if the operator of the orphanage home keeps to intimidating the school principal and the teacher.
Earlier, the school principal, Mr Gordon Mmeo Promise, who received the NUT state chairman and secretary, told them that the operator of the orphanage home has been threatening and intimidating him and a teacher with armed police men at the school.
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“In fact, the last incident that happened which I had to smuggled that teacher out of the school inside my car when the woman instigated the students who were carrying stones attempted to go after her,” he said.
He said since the operator of the orphanage home gave her phone number to the students of the school, teachers has been teaching under fear.
