By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Sierra Leone Police on Monday arrested 25 pupils of the West African Methodist Collegiate School. The Police say the kids were arrested because of riotous conduct and disorderly behaviour.
Official Police accounts from the Congo Cross Police Station states that Police went to the school following reports of riots in the area by the school pupils, which then later provoked more violent reactions by the larger student population.
“They were pelting stones on the police and barricaded the road. They were so violent in character that it led to a standstill,” Police spokesman, Superintendent Brima Kamara, said.
An eye witness account said the violence was provoked by Police officers who came into the school and arrested some students following a complaint that was made by an unknown person.
“It all started around 8am, when pupils entered the school grounds and a driver pursued them saying they should pay him. Then later we saw Police enter in the school, arrest three pupils and then almost the whole school came down and said their colleagues would not go,” Mohamed Saccoh, the gateman at the school, explained to Politico.
He said to quell down the riot, the officers had to fire tear gas to disperse the pupils.
“They fired teargas rampantly,” Saccoh said.
Politico saw tear gas canisters around the compound during the findings.
Saccoh’s testimony was also corroborated by the Police report that was shared with Politico by the Head of Media for the force, Superintendent Kamara.
People around the school say this riot is a culmination of series of problems that have been brewing there. These problems range from poor administration to a deep rift between the Old Boys of the school and the management.
Last Friday students in the school staged a protest against the principal, Aiah Kpakima. Politico could not reach him for comments.
The Police say they came to the school on the day and enquired about the reason for the strike. According to the Police Spokesman, some of the grievances of the pupils were that the principal did not allow their fellow pupils to engage in [exams] malpractice this year.
This year, public examinations across the country have been marred by reports of widespread malpractices, some of which have provoked violence in some parts of the country.
Acting Vice Principal of the school, Abu Bakar Kargbo, however told Politico that Monday’s incident was not connected in any way to the Friday protests.
“I know there are problems, but today’s problem was not connected to the protests on Friday,” he said in an interview outside the precinct of the Lumley Police Station.
Teddy Handel Mannah, Public Relations Officer of the school’s alumni association, lamented how bad the situation is for the already battered image of the school.
“The entire administration has an infighting going on and they want to use a faction of the pupils to remove the principal. Who is the principal of the school should not be the concern of students. They should just come to school, learn and make good grades,” Mr Mannah told Politico.
Officials of the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, who later visited the school, acknowledged that there was a deeper problem than what they were told, and they said they were trying to engage stakeholders affected to resolve it.
“We are going to have a sector meeting, which will involve the old boys, teachers and the principals,” Moses Sesay, an official from the Ministry, told Politico.
WAM Collegiate used to be one of the premier schools in Freetown, but the school’s image has suffered in recent years due to poor performances in public exams and violence. The school is owned by the Methodist mission in West Africa.
Vice Principal Kargbo said this latest incident just makes it more difficult for the school to save its reputation.
“This is bad for the school in general. It is really bad.”
Monday’s violence has left efforts by the school’s alumni to rebrand it in jeopardy.
“The end of this month we were about to do a program to raise some funds to fix some problems of the school. Now we can’t even do that, because all those who want to help us are no longer enthusiastic about it,” Mannah said.
The Education Ministry officials and the school authorities were negotiating behind closed doors to secure the release of the arrested kids. But Police say they will have to go through the due process.
(c) 2019 Politico Online
