By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
Parents and guardians have been admonished to keep a close watch on their children and wards to know the kinds of friends and propel they interact and mix with to avoid embarrassment and getting into trouble.
Giving the admonition was the chairman of Akpabuyo Local Government Area of Cross River State, Hon. Emmanuel Offiong Bassey, while answering questions from our correspondent on Thursday in Calabar, in reaction to the discovery of a 17-year-old students of Government Secondary School, Ikot Ewa, in the local council, who allegedly attempted to shoot her school teacher for daring to cut her colored hair.
Hon Bassey said, “This is shameful, parents must pay attention to their wards. Discipline should start from home.
“Parents should not allow responsibility of taming the child to the school authority alone. Charity they say begins at home.
“If you watch and scold your children well, I doubt if this kind of issue would occur.”
In his narration of the incident, the council chairman said that it’s true that a secondary school student has been apprehended by the Operation Akpakwu, the state security outfit, for attempting to shoot her class teacher.
He siad that available information revealed that the female student attempted to shoot her school teacher, for ordering her to cut off her coloured hair.
He added that angered by the teacher’s order, the school girl stormed the school the next day, pulled a locally made pistol and attempted to shoot the class teacher, but was stopped by another teacher, who seized the locally made pistol from her and alerted security operatives.
When our correspondent called on the authority of the Cross River State Police Command for reaction, it was learnt that the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Irene Ugbo, was not sound in health, but her second-in-command, Igiri Ewa, confirmed the incident, stressing that the police authority was yet to receive the suspect, as she is still in the custody of Operation Akpakwu.
She said, “We will call you people for briefing immediately the school girl is handed over to the police.”
However, when our correspondent called the Army Public Relations Officer, Capt. Evarest Ochienta, who was somehow economical with facts of the case, he stated that the army has no power to prosecute, stressing that if actually the school girl is in the custody of the army, she would definitely be handed over to the police for investigation.
