Students threaten Kwara teachers with ‘juju’ in rural areas – Civil group

A civil rights group, Kwara Must Change, has raised alarm over the threat of use of juju being faced by public school teachers from students in the rural areas.

The convener of the group, Abdulrazaq Hamzat, said that public school teachers were facing serious threats from charms-carrying students in the rural areas.

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Hamzat said that the students did not only display anti-social behaviour and acts of extreme hooliganism, but also threatened teachers with rape and physical assault.

While speaking to City & Crime, the convener said that the observation was part of a research conducted by his team in many rural schools in Ilorin West LGA.

He said they discovered that all the schools in the rural areas were having similar issues, adding that Odoore was one of the most notorious places.

In a statement, KMC said, “Our investigation shows that beyond the normal inconveniences some teachers face as a result of being deployed to rural areas, one of the major challenges is lack of security for the school environments and for the teachers themselves.”

Hamzat explained that, “Many teachers who spoke with KMC told us that the lives of teachers are not safe because of the nature of their rural environments.

“Some students come to school with charms, display anti-social behaviours and extreme acts of hooliganism. And when a teacher tries to correct or punish them, they threaten them with charms.

“The situation is even more aggravated because when some students are punished or caught with charms and their parents are informed of such development, they take sides with their children, and such situations make the students grow out of control.

“We are now facing a situation where secondary school students will tell male teachers that they will deal with them from their hideouts in bush areas. Sometimes, even threatening to rape female teachers.”

Hamzat further explained that most schools in the rural areas were not fenced despite being close to bushes, hence that students easily walked into the bushes during school hours outside the control of their teachers.

The convener said his team had written several letters to the ministry and SUBEB over the issue but that they “are not responding to our letters.”

He, therefore, called on the government to engage permanent security in all rural schools and prioritise the security of rural teachers, including provision of necessary facilities.

Calls to the Chairman of SUBEB in the state, Prof AbdulRaheem Adaraja, rang but he did not pick, neither did he reply an SMS on the issue.

Reacting , the chairman of the Kwara State Universal Education Borad (SUBEB), Prof AbdulRaheem Adaramaja, dismissed the allegation, saying he has not received any complain of such from any teacher.

“The teachers not protesting or complaining to the NUT leadership. We have not received a single case of charm being used on any teacher by the students.

“If he is talking about the security and fencing of the school, that is understandable and the government is already looking towards it.”  he said.