The death of a secondary school pupil, Beke Meretighan, in an Ondo State school has posed more questions than answers. PETER DADA writes about some of these questions
The death of a secondary school pupil, Beke Meretighan, in Ondo State, has continued to generate reactions from various stakeholders in the past few days.
According to various reports, Meretighan was allegedly killed on the premises of the Ijaw National High School Arogbo in the Ese Odo Local Government Area of Ondo, by a man suspected to be suffering from a mental disorder.
The suspected lunatic, who strayed into the school, was alleged to have attacked and strangled the 17-year-old boy while he was preparing for an examination.
A source told The PUNCH that it was the principal of the school who rushed to the police station to report the matter after one of the deceased’s colleagues had escaped from the scene, to get the attention of the school authorities.
However, there are still many questions yet unanswered as regards the issue. Many stakeholders are concerned about why no teacher in the school was able to rescue the student. Why there were no security personnel in the school, to protect him from the attack, and more.
An uncle of the deceased, Mr Yinrewa Ipogho, told The PUNCH that the family believes that the death of his nephew was caused by the school’s inability to properly secure its pupils. He stated that if it was not for the laxity on the part of the teachers and the security man, his now-deceased nephew would have been rescued.
He said, “On that day, the boy (deceased) came home to collect money for his exams. Afterward, he and his mate returned to school. It was raining and they covered themselves with an umbrella. On their way, they met two of their classmates, so they became four.
“Immediately they entered the school’s compound, they heard a shout, but they thought it was their mates trying to scare them. Suddenly, a man (lunatic) grabbed two of them, but one was able to escape.
“The one that escaped narrated to us that he ran to the school and informed the first two teachers he saw that a madman was inside the gatekeeper room and was strangling his classmate. The two teachers referred him to the principal.
“According to him, the principal directed him to call the gateman after he reported to him. However, the gateman told him (the surviving student) that he couldn’t go to the scene because it was raining.”
Ipogho further narrated to The PUNCH that the student who was now wet and tired from running around in the rain, gave up his attempts to get teachers, the school principal, and the gateman to help his friend.
He stated, “Later, the principal came with two people and asked the boy to take them to the scene of the incident, but he said he had no strength again. He pointed out the place to them, and when they got there, they found the lifeless body of my nephew. It was then they raised the alarm and took the boy to the hospital.”
According to Ipogho, his deceased cousin did not annoy the attacker by calling him ‘were’ (mad man) as some reports have claimed. He explained that this is based on the account of the boy that escaped and narrated the incident to the family.
The uncle of the deceased further stated that the family is now considering legal steps.
“The family is planning to take legal action against every person involved in the incident. If you consider it, this was caused by negligence,” he said, “because when the deceased’s friend went to report the situation to the teachers, they should have swung into action immediately. If they had done that, they would have rescued the boy from the madman.”
“This incident happened on the premises of the school. We are not satisfied with the way they are handling the matter,” he added.
A member of the community, who also has a child in the school, affirmed to The PUNCH (on condition of anonymity) that the school did not have enough security personnel because the government did not make provision for them.
He said, “The school does not have enough security men. I have a child there, and I know what I am saying.
“The school cannot single-handedly do anything; it is a public school. The government is there, the Parents Teachers Association is there, as well as the community, nobody is doing anything in that regard. It will be better if the government come to the aid of the school. It is a school with a very big compound, they need a perimeter fence around it.”
Giving the description of the secondary school and the need for a proper security arrangement for the students, the parent explained that it was a school located on a large expanse of land.
He said the school was supposed to have at least three security personnel. However, only one person has been provided by the Ondo State government to guard the school.
He further stated, “It is a large compound. The gate to the principal’s office is about 500 metres. There is a plantation before you get to the school field, and it is after the school field that you get to the buildings. It will take you at least five minutes before you get to the principal’s office.”
Commenting on the incident, the parent said, “The place the incident happened was close to the gate and the security man was not at his post. That was why I tried to describe the environment to you. The distance between the gate and where teachers and everything else are situated is about 500 meters.
“If something is happening at the gate area, how can anyone know? Considering the distance, it is a very far place. Before you get to where the teachers are, you will spend up to three to five minutes. It is very unfortunate. The boy would have been rescued if not for the aforementioned factors.”
The PUNCH gathered that after the incident, students were initially scared to come back to school, even though the Junior Secondary School Examination was ongoing at the time. The students later came back, according to a source, and continued their exams.
A source told The PUNCH, “When the incident happened, the students were scared initially. The school principal and some other people went to the king of the town, who appealed to the deceased family members and tried to persuade them that it was a government exam and could not be shifted because of a single school. So, the students had returned.”
However, when contacted, the Principal of the school, Mr Eric Kpekpe, declined to comment. He said, “I cannot speak on the matter for now, please.”
According to the state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr Femi Agagu, the state is trying its best to provide security to all schools.
He, however, did not blame the school or take any responsibility for the incident. He only noted that the school authority needed to work with security outfits around the area to provide adequate security for the students.
He said, “Each school is required to have security personnel, perimeter fence, and CCTV. The school authorities are also to work closely with the formal security outfits, that is, the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Amotekun Corps where possible.
“This is the template, and it is working in most of the schools.”
The state police command confirmed that the suspected lunatic had been arrested. According to the Public Relations Officer of the state police command, Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami, the matter has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department of the command for further investigation.
She said, “The matter is currently being handled by the SCID.”
However, some civil society organisations and foundations have said the school management cannot be totally absolved from the blame.
They said even though the government had some share of the blame, the management should have taken some measures that could forestall the unfortunate occurrence.
The Executive Director, Life Dreams, a Lagos-based foundation, Mr Olanrewaju Ajayi, said, “Considering the way the school environment is structured, I believe the management should know better on how to protect their pupils. Issues of security threats as this one should have been envisaged and prepared for. It is the duty of the school management to ensure nothing bad happens to the pupils in the care. It is a very sad development.”
