It was a bizarre and horrible sight to behold almost all the classrooms in Emmanuel College filled with faeces.
Our reporter had gone to the school on Tuesday, 5 October, to monitor progress of school resumption as announced by Imo State government after a long forced vacation caused by the outbreak of the dreaded Covid-19 pandemic.
Unlike other schools where students and teachers were seen in their numbers, with academic activities going on, the first site that greeted him at Emmanuel College was classrooms completely covered with faeces.
When confronted with the development and the fact that academic activities were not seen going on in the school at about 12.45 pm when our reporter arrived, the Principal, Senior section of the college, Mrs Anyaoha Christina, used the opportunity to relieve the ugly experiences students, teachers and the school authorities have been going through in the hands of renegades who carry out all manner of atrocities in the compound.
She said some groups of people have turned the school field to training pitch for their clubs and play football in the field, even during school hours. She said the presence of the clubs attract all manner of people to the premises and that the mischievous ones among them, later use the premises as anchor point to engage in all manners of nefarious activities like; smoking of all kinds of hard drugs, stealing, armed robbery, kidnapping, among others.
The Principal disclosed that some teachers and students, especially those who come to school very early, have had ugly experience in the hands of the miscreants who either snatch their hand bags, handsets or molestation.
Mrs Anyaoha disclosed that the school had resumed in line with government directive but clarified that reason much students were not seen around and lack of academic activity was because students who came to school worked tirelessly, packing out faeces from their classrooms and after working for some hours were allowed to go home for the day, also considering the heavy downpour on the day.
She narrated how contractors working for the past government of Okorocha knocked down the perimeter fence of the school and abandoned it, giving room for miscreants to have unrestricted access to carry out their nefarious activities in the premises.
She said the school authority have severally made representations to the government and also sought the assistance of old boys of the school who have promised to rebuild parts of the fence, but nothing has been done yet.
According to the Principal, the school authority on its own hired two Fulani security guards who they pay N20,000 monthly, but because of lean resources have been forced to review the payment down to N15,000 and still not being able to meet up due to lack of funds, have been forced to disengage one of the guards.