Secondary school students go berserk in Edo, burn principals office

THERE was pandemonium in Idogbo Secondary School, in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, as students of the school in viral video seen yesterday, went haywire, setting a section of the school ablaze, just as they vandalised the principal’s office.

They were said to have also harassed a policeman on duty in the school while the students were writing exams.

In anger, the rampaging students returned to the school premises and destroyed the principal’s office.

A source in the school, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the school management invited security personnel in anticipation of security breaches in the school as it had become a regular occurrence, especially during festive and examination seasons.

“So, when the exams started on December 3, 2021, we invited some policemen and vigilante members in case of any eventuality. So, because we anticipated that there could be a disturbance, the first set of policemen came while we waited for other police officers.

“When it became uncontrollable, teachers started running for their lives, then the students went on a rampage,  destroying everything on sight. The police were called from the Police Command, but they could not control them.

“It was when they invited the DSS  operatives that they used gunshots to scare them away. Later the DSS personnel arrested about 45 of the students who were hiding in the bush. They are now at the police command.”

When contacted, the Edo State Police Command Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Bello Kontongs, said: “49 students were in custody “for willful damage of government property. Non has been changed to court yet.”

When this reporter visited the school, yesterday, he was chased away by a man with a machete, who claimed to be the security man and refused any picture of the compound to be taken.