Tensions have risen at Anglican Comprehensive Secondary School (ACSS) in Kubwa, Abuja, due to a recent mass transfer of teachers that has sparked outrage among parents.
The teachers were allegedly transferred after raising concerns over the non-payment of their salaries for five months in 2023 which were eventually paid following demands from the parents.
The parents suspected that the mass transfer was punitive but the school’s administration maintained that the transfers were carried out in line with official policies and the regulations of the Anglican Church, which owns the institution.
However, tension escalated on resumption of school from the long break early morning of Monday, 12 September 2024, when a detachment of armed policemen from the Kubwa station, off Gado Nasko Way, stormed the school premises but left after a brief conversation with the Principal of the school and later with a group of parents gathered at the entrance of the compound.
The following day, Tuesday, armed policemen returned to the school gate around 8:00 a.m., where the parents were seen discussing and in an attempt to disperse them, a teargas canister was detonated, causing the parents to scamper from the area.
On both days, the parents, whose protests involved no placards, chants, or obstruction of movement, gathered in small groups by the gate of the compound, which houses the secondary and primary schools, a clinic, a guesthouse, the bishop’s residence, and an administrative building.
They said that they were compelled to stage a peaceful protest after all efforts to resolve the issue with the school’s proprietor failed while raising concerns about the proprietor’s approach to handling the alleged crisis with his decision to deploy armed police officers to the school.
The mass teacher transfers, according to some of the parents who spoke with The Nation that was punitive, believing that it would have a detrimental effect on students, especially those in critical exam years.
Deaconess Chika Onuke, Chairman of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), clarified that while parents are not opposed to the school’s transfer policy, they find the sudden and large-scale transfer suspicious and disruptive, particularly as it leaves only a handful of teachers the children were used to.
Onuke and others argue that removing teachers familiar with the students, particularly those in Junior and Senior Secondary 3, who are preparing for their final exams, could severely affect their academic performance.
“This transfer is not just about moving teachers; it feels like a vendetta. These teachers stood by us when they were not paid for five months. We fought together to ensure they got their dues, and now they are being sent away, this looks more like a vendetta.
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“Our children had fantastic results in the last national exams and it’s all due to the good job of these dedicated teachers, now they have all been transferred, how would the parents not be concerned?
“We are not against the transfer itself, we understand that he can transfer teachers as needed, but we are asking for those handling the exam classes to be allowed to stay for the sake of continuity. This is a matter of our children’s future,” she said.
Onuke recounted efforts to engage the school’s leadership in dialogue, but the attempts have been futile so far. “We are not asking for much, all we want is for our children to have stability in their education. This should be the priority, not internal politics or personal vendettas,” she added.
The parents also empathized with the teachers who were moved from their locations to far-flung places considering the prevailing economic challenges in the country and the unsustainable transportation burden they have to bear.
“With many teachers earning salaries around N60,000 for those with NCE qualifications and N80,000 for B.Sc. holders, the burden of commuting is unsustainable.
“How can we expect them to continue to give their best under such conditions?”, another aggrieved parent who pleaded anonymity said.
The parents said the presence of the armed policemen at the school was an intimidation tactic to suppress their peaceful protest instead of resolving the conflict amicably.
“Why are armed police needed at a school? This is a place for learning, not a battleground. Did we carry placards, are we disturbing the public or even the school?
“We are gathered here, not even obstructing vehicles and humans going in and out of the school, we are just discussing our issues and for passersby to know that something is not right at the school.
“So, what is the reason for calling the police on us?” the concerned parent said.
When contacted over the phone, the Bishop, who runs the mission school, defended his decision by invoking his authority to transfer teachers as he sees fit, dismissing the parents’ concerns.
“The school is under the control of the Church, and we are not in competition with anyone and we are not forcing anybody to bring his or her ward to the school. Any parent unhappy with our administration can take their children to another school.
“We manage that school with our own rules and regulations, the Anglican Church is not new in managing schools all over the world,”
Regarding the presence of armed policemen on the school premises, he confirmed in a phone conversation with our correspondent that he had invited them due to threats to his properties.
“I asked them to come, don’t you know the security situation in this country? In this country, Nigeria, in case you are not current, when your property is under threat, you can call the police.
“I have my hospital, I have my office, I have my house, I have my church, I have my secondary school, I have my primary school in that compound,” he said.
He, however, kept mum when confronted with the parents’ allegations of a retaliatory mass transfer of teachers who protested against the non-payment of their five-month salary in 2023.
He scheduled an appointment with our reporter for this week, but when visited on Tuesday, he was reportedly out of the city.
The school principal, Mrs. Ifeoma Anyaorah, was prevented from speaking with our reporter by a man who did not provide his name but identified himself as a Director of Education for an undisclosed organisation.
He said: “As civil servants, we are not authorized to speak to the press”.
When our correspondent visited his office to inquire about the presence of armed policemen at the school, the Kubwa Divisional Police Officer (DPO) stated that only the FCT Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) was authorized to respond to media inquiries.
However, when contacted on the phone, the FCT PPRO, Superintendent of Police (SP) Josephine Adah said she was on sick leave, recovering from a surgery procedure, and had no information on the incident.
She referred our correspondent to the Force PRO, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who did not respond to multiple calls, short message service (SMS), or WhatsApp messages.
As of the time of filing this report, the policemen have not returned to the compound since dispersing the parents with tear gas.
The replacement teachers, transferred from other Anglican secondary schools in Kpegi and Nyanyan in Kuje and Abuja Municipal Area Councils respectively, have already resumed their duties at the Kubwa school.
It was also learned that many of the transferred teachers from Kubwa have also reported to their new primary assignments.