The police have arrested ten senior secondary school students in Ogun State for allegedly beating up their teacher, Kolawole Shonuga, for stopping one of them from cheating in an examination.
The incident occurred on Tuesday at Isanbi Comprehensive High School, Ilisan-Remo, in Ikenne Local Government Area of the state.
It was learnt that Mr Shonuga while invigilating the unified examination for the Senior Secondary School (SS1) Art class, caught one Ashimi Adebanjo cheating and seized his paper.
Angered by this development, Master Adebanjo allegedly mobilised his gang to waylay the teacher at the school gate and beat him severely.
One of the suspected hooligans, Kazeem Adelaja, allegedly used a stick on Mr Shonuga while they also tore his clothes.
Our correspondent gathered that the matter was reported to the police by the victim, after which officers arrested the ten students.
The police spokesperson in the state, Omolola Odutola, confirmed the arrests.
She said the students were arrested after Mr Shonuga reported a case of alleged assault at the Remo Police Division.
Ms Odutola, however, refused to say whether or not the students have been arraigned in court.
The chairperson of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) in the state, Felix Agbesanwa, condemned the incident.
He 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 wrath of the law. There’s no going back on that. No student must raise his 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 a deterrent. I learnt they have been charged to court already.”
Assault of teachers by students is not a strange development in Ogun State. In 2021, at least four cases were recorded in public schools in the state, following which the state government made students of public schools and their parents sign an undertaking not to be involved in hooliganism.
In a related development, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Science and Technology, Abayomi Arigbabu, has condemned indiscipline in public schools.
Mr Arigbabu vowed that acts of indiscipline by students would not be condoned in the state.
He gave this warning in Abeokuta while receiving the new Executive of the Mathematical Association of Nigeria (MAN).
He said the signing of the undertaking was to make students and parents liable for misconduct and to create a safe learning environment in public schools.
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