Contrary to claims that two students of a senior secondary school in Life Camp, Abuja were shot dead by operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) command of the corps says its officers did not kill any student.
The command said the operatives were in the school on the principal’s invitation following the invasion of its premises by some expelled students and their collaborators.
The command’s spokesperson, Comfort Okomanyi, in a statement obtained by LEADERSHIP Friday, said the students who were expelled for cultism had threatened to disrupt the school examinations, which prompted the authorities to write to the command for protection.
Okomanyi, who said no life was lost during the said fracas.
She said, “NSCDC FCT Command was invited by the management of Junior Secondary School, Gwarinpa, for security coverage through a letter dated November 21, 2023 and signed by the school director/principal, Mr Akinfolajimi Olayinka.
“His request was premised on the fact that the school was being terrorised by some criminal elements who always gained access into the premises by jumping over the perimeter fence,” she said.
According to her, in the letter to the corps, the school said the invitation was due to the increasing number of notorious students and for the safety of other students and teachers.
However, on Wednesday (November 29), the school was invaded by some notorious elements, including those who were expelled and their collaborators who caused mayhem and destroyed cars belonging to the teachers at the parking lot.
“Armed with cudgels and other dangerous weapons, some of the hoodlums launched an attack on the deployed unarmed NSCDC personnel, staff members and students of the school, which necessitated the call for a back-up for armed personnel.
“In the melee that ensued, two students sustained bullet wounds unintentionally when warning shots were fired into the air in an attempt to prevent carnage by the notorious ex-students who were expelled from the school over their cult-related activities
“On account of this development, and to avoid the situation getting out of hand, the NSCDC FCT commandant intimated his police counterpart who immediately drafted police officers to the school and both agencies worked collaboratively to ensure that normalcy, peace and order were restored to the school premises,” she said.
The FCT commandant, Odumosu Olusola, had on receipt of the incident, immediately undergone an assessment tour of the school and also visited the two students currently undergoing treatment at a government facility.
She said contacts have also been established with their parents, adding that it can be authoritatively confirmed that the injured students are in a very stable condition.
The statement said going by the development, the commandant -general of the NSCDC, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, in his avowed commitment to professionalism and transparent policing, has ordered the Forensic Psychological Examination Wing of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre to commence evaluation of all armed personnel of the command.
The command’s spokesperson said a panel of inquiry had been set up to get to the root of the matter as internal disciplinary mechanisms would be deployed to punish personnel found wanting in the unfortunate incident.
The FCT command rendered an unresolved apology to parents/guardians of the two students who were injured, unintentionally promising to pick up the bills incurred in the course of their treatment.
It promised to remain committed to the Safe School Programme of the federal government as well as guiding the breach of peace by miscreants under any guise in academic environments.
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