The students,
teachers and parents of Faith Heritage International School, Abesan in Mosan
Okunola LCDA, Alimosho on Monday 29th February thrown into confusion
as they could neither enter nor leave the school premises because Mosan Okunola
officials had locked their children and wards in the school.
A visibly disappointed
Principal of the school, Mr. Balogun while speaking with Alimosho Standard
wondered how they would have managed if there was an emergency. He noted that a
section of the students were to leave school around 2pm in the afternoon and
others, 4pm but couldn’t leave until late in the evening by 6pm when the Gates
were finally opened.
According to Mr.
Balogun, the school premises was locked on Saturday during environmental
sanitation while nobody was around, for dirty environment and non-patronage of
PSP operators, allegations he refuted by showing our correspondent a heap of
receipts used in paying PSP operators. He said the school was on break since Thursday
25th February for mid-term break and because of the location of the
school (close to the road), nylon of biscuit, pure water and others would have gone
into their gutter (drainage) and that is what the Council officials saw to come
to a conclusion that the school was dirty and then went ahead to fine them
N50,000.
Mr. Balogun
noted that the two gates of the school were locked but one was locked in a way
that people could enter through it, a move he thought was deliberate so that
the students and teachers could enter while they negotiate with the authorities
on payment of the fine in order to resolve the case. This according to him didn’t
go down well with the Council as they came back to lock the gate with another
chain and padlock so that the students and their teachers couldn’t make an exit
or entrance. All these happened while the principal was at the Council
negotiating on how much to pay, in order to resolve the case.
Making payment
to the Bank and coming back to the school took a long time because the
Executive Secretary, Hon. Opeyemi Akindele got to the Council around 2pm and
nothing could be done without her. Mr. Balogun noted that the Executive Secretary
went into a meeting immediately she got there which lasted for a long time
before he was attended to and told to pay N25,000.
On getting to
the school premises after making payment around after five in the evening, the
principal met parents outside, passing food to their children and wards through
the locked Gate of the school. Mr. Balogun who says he is an associate of the
Executive Secretary of the Local Government who herself is an educationist wondered
why a school with students in the classrooms was re-locked in such manner while
the management of the school was trying to resolve the case.
Meanwhile, when
Alimosho Standard visited the Council to get their side of the story, the Head
of Department of Environment, Mrs. Anjorin, declined to comment, insisting we
should see her boss, the Executive Secretary. As at 2 o clock in the afternoon
that we visited, the Executive Secretary was not around so we couldn’t speak
with her. An aide of hers who spoke to us on the phone told us an inspection
team came from Lagos State on Saturday and they were the one that ordered the
school to be locked and he went ahead to deny the Council locking the
Gates with students in the premises. He also noted that the school premises was
actually dirty and that was why that decision was taken.
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| Parents Outside The School |
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| This is how it was initially locked |
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| It was re-locked with students inside |
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