Parents Protest Extortion As Unity Colleges Resume After Strike

Angry parents have expressed concerns at widespread extortion and other sundry charges imposed on students after spending extra weeks at home due to the closure of the Federal Government Colleges (FGCs) across the country in protest over the planned concession or privatization of such institutions.

Our correspondent who monitored the resumption at some Unity Colleges in Akwa Ibom State, noted that at the FGC, Ikot Ekpene local government area, parents rejected the compulsory N20,000 imposed by the Parents/Teachers Association (PTA) in conjunction with the school management on students before being cleared into their halls of residence.

Lamenting over what he described as barefaced extortion, Mr. Victor Effiong, one of the parents lamented that the management forced him and other parents with children in Senior Secondary (SS1), to cough out N20,000 as payment for uniforms, which had already been paid to federal government through Remita Retrieval Reference ( RRR) by parents to the designated banks .

He explained that “one of the items in the RRR was N25,000 for uniforms and all parents obliged and armed themselves with bank tellers to be changed to official receipts before checking students into the hostel.”

“But parents were surprised when the school management instructed that they should pay another N20,000 and threatened to return students who have not complied back home,” he lamented.

The breakdown of the charges, it gathered, included payment of N7,500 each for mattress cover, and N12,500 for uniforms totalling N20,000 before checking in.

“If they extort N20,000 from 600 students in SS1, it amounts to N12 million from one class alone. They would also extort from the newly admitted students in JS1, as they would be received on 4th October. This is not acceptable.

“We queried such payments and argued that it has already been paid as one of the items in the RRR payment to the bank, and the PTA representatives insisted that it must be paid

“We discovered that N7,500 each, was charged for bed cover on mattresses donated by Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to students and delivered during the holiday period.

“Instead of the school management to release the mattresses to students on resumption, they extorted N7,500 from parents in the guise of bed cover before it was issued to students,” another distraught parent, Bassey Akpan, added

“They also extorted N12,500 as charges before uniforms were released to students. This is a clear case of fraud,” Mfonobong Inyang, stated, and rallied other parents whose children have been affected by the new fraudulent regime, to take the matter before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (NDDC), for redress.

Also, another aggrieved parent, Chinedu Ike, expressed disappointment at the PTA and the college management for conspiracy to extort money from parents.

Ike, who became stranded with his ward, wondered why such illegal charges were not posted on the platform or official college platform for them to prepare their minds, lamented over the rigorous process of returning his child back home for not having the money to pay as demanded by management.

According to him, he had to call his brother in the neighbouring Abia State who transferred the money before he could pay and check in his son.

Although the principal and the PTA chairman were absent during the resumption, Ike, described their actions as deliberate- in order to avoid being attacked by the protesting parents.

“The PTA exco and the principal absent during the resumption formalities is a calculated ploy to escape the wrath of parents, but instead positioned the PTA staff and teachers to collect the money and send away those who could not afford.

“Imagine the principal and PTA chairman with her exco absent on the resumption day of Unity School because they know that parents would be angry over this extortion. It has not happened before. My son is in SS1, and in the past years, they were always available to receive students

“But because of their planned mischiefs, they were no where to be found, but left instructions with their staff to extort parents while they would return to share the loots,” stressed.

Another parent simply identified as “Daddy Desire” with his son in SS1 refused to pay the N20,000 at the PTA office and insisted to meet the Principal Mr Emmanuel Didi, but could not be found in the office .

“I can’t pay for what I have already paid through the bank to the federal government. How can they charge me for uniforms which has been clearly spelt out in the ‘RRR’ for payment in the bank to government?” he queried.

“To show that this money is collected fraudulently, no receipt was issued for the payment. This is broad daylight robbery on parents in this hard times must stop.”

He, therefore, called on the minister of education to disband the PTA executive, investigate the fraud while the matter would be petitioned to the EFCC, for further investigations

“This fraud on resumption day at Federal Government College, Ikot Ekpene must be investigated.The Minister of Education must intervene to save parents from the hands of extortionists,” he said.

However, the principal of the college, Mr Emmanuel Didi, could not be reached, but a senior management official, who declined his name in print, disclosed that the protesting parents should be thankful to the management because, according to him, the levy was fixed at N25,000, but Mr. Didi used his discretion to reduce it by N5,000.

“Initially, we planned to collect N25,000 from female students, but because of the outcry, we just asked both boys and girls to pay N20,000,” he explained.