Pressure is mounting on the Department of State Services (DSS) to fire five of its officials who were recently arrested over alleged invasion of, and attack on the Federal Government Girls’ College (FGGC), Calabar.
The February 2, 2017 attack was allegedly instigated by a female operative of the DSS whose niece was a student of the institution.
The attack sparked reactions from the public prompting the DSS to arrest five suspects.
They were subsequently detained and put through what a source called internal disciplinary processes.
“Actually, internal administrative action has been taken and persons associated with it are undergoing very drastic disciplinary processes in line with our extant rules and regulations,” the source who chose not to be named said.
He added: “It has really given us bad publicity and we would be happy if it does not come up again. As a responsible agency, we are not taking it lightly. Those that were involved will not get off it lightly.
“Our disciplinary processes, depending on the offence, they can get anything including dismissal from service. I cannot say and I would not be the one to make that judgment. I can assure you that depending on the level of culpability, the sanctions will be very severe for them.”
The student who started it all has already been expelled from the school.
She had been caned on the fateful day along with some others by her teacher for failing to tidy up their classroom.
Soon after the punishment was meted to her, she allegedly called up her mother by phone to complain about the punishment.
The mother, in turn, reached out to her sister in the DSS.
In a jiffy the mother, her sister (the DSS operative) and a man stormed the school demanding an explanation from the teacher who caned the girl.
The mother, the female DSS operative and their male companion realizing that the teacher and his colleagues were not intimidated by their presence soon devised a new strategy: call for assistance from the DSS office.
In a matter of minutes a dozen or so security officials had descended on the school, shooting indiscriminately.They pounced on the teachers and beat them mercilessly.
The school authorities subsequently reported the matter to the state Ministry of Education which, in turn, lodged an official complaint with the DSS.
The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) and several other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the state also openly protested the action of the DSS officials and demanded that they be sanctioned appropriately.
A staff who did not want to be named as the matter has been transferred to the Federal Ministry of Education, said: “they told us that the real actors from the DSS have been arrested and remanded in custody. If the teacher is in any way culpable, the ministry would also do something as they are investigating.
“The reason we made all the noise we made was to ensure that the whole matter is not swept under the carpet. That is why we raised our voices, because if it is not treated this time, it will happen again.
“We want to know what has happened to those who were found culpable in the attack on the school. What is the true picture? What is really going on? We don’t want a situation where time passes and everything is just swept under the carpet and forgotten. People need to be punished for this to serve as a strong deterrent to others who may want to try same in future.
“As it is now, we have handed everything over to the Federal Ministry of Education and there is nothing we can do anymore. Even, though it is outside our powers, we would also like to know what the Ministry is doing on the matter.”
The school stands five blocks away from the DSS office on Goodluck Jonathan Bypass in the Cross River State capital.
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