Tag: Anambra State

Residents of Federal Housing Estate, ‘33’, Onitsha suburb, Anambra State, have lamented lack of primary and secondary schools in the area.

They said their children trekked far distances to access schools, wondering why an estate of such a magnitude could exist for years without educational facilities.

They called on government to come to their rescue by siting primary and secondary schools in the area to reduce the risks the children were exposed to.

One of the residents who simply identified herself as Mrs Okereke, told The Nation that the absence of schools in the area have compelled some parents to relocate to areas their wards would easily have access to schools.

Okekere, a mother of three, said her children risked their lives on daily basis to access schools outside the estate.

She said, “It sounds strange that a federal government project of this magnitude as Federal Government Housing estate has no primary and secondary schools.

“Every morning, my three kids trek to schools outside the estate at their own risk because government at the state and federal levels cannot provide schools for children of the area.

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“Some trek to Oyolu primary school and Nkwelle-Ezunaka High school that are outside this our domain risking their lives on daily basis.

“I appeal to Governor Willie Obiano and Commissioner for Education to do something about it urgently because it is our children, not federal government children that suffer it.”

A teacher, who preferred anonymity, lamented the untold hardship they were subjected to as a result of absence of primary and secondary schools in the area.

She said, “As a teacher, I know what it takes me to go out of this place to another school to teach because there is no primary school here, not to talk of a secondary school.

“Some parents have even parked out of the estate to areas where their kids will have easy access to schools so they will not be in trauma whenever their kids go to school.”

Also speaking, the state chairman of Civil Liberties OrganiSation (CLO), Comrade Vincent Ezekwueme, said many children had been victims of various accidents because of the long commute.

“The problem of lack of primary and post primary schools in the area has resulted in school children falling victims of ghastly auto accidents, molestation and kidnapping as they trek far distance to schools.

“I advise the Governor and Education commissioner to visit the area and see things for themselves.

“They will discover that for years now the residents have been without schools and they need not to be told the hazards of trekking outside one’s domain to acquire educational knowledge,” he said.

Ezekwueme also called for the establishment of blind and talented schools for both indigent, physically challenged but brilliant students in the area.

ABOUT 30 parents have threatened to withdraw their wards from the Madonna University in Okija, Anambra State.

Six students and a lecturer were arrested and detained in February for an alleged opinion they posted on Facebook. The post was about poor management in the institution.

A parent, Christopher Onyejekwe, told reporters that the institution was likely to lose over 200 students next semester. According to him, he went to the founder of the institution 11 times to beg him but to no avail.

He said: “It has become a fight to finish; these children have been in detention since February 11. Four of my children attend the school.”

Meanwhile, the absence of Justice Babtunde Quadri of the Federal High Court 2 in Awka yesterday stalled the release of the detainees.

The court was filled with parents, human rights activists and concerned individuals. But the judge, it was gathered, would sit today for the continuation of trial.

Deputy Registrar of the institution Charles Njoku could not be reached for comments.

Read Also: Parents threaten to withdraw wards from Madonna varsity over students’ detention

Before now, members of the National Association of Nigeria students (NANs), led by the Southeast Vice Chairman, Chidi Ilogebe, had staged a protest at the Federal High Court against the institution.

Ilogebe said: “We came to register our dissatisfaction on how the management of Madonna University is treating our colleagues. Sometime in February, we got information that the police, following a petition by the school management, arrested some students.

“The petition alleged that the students were criminals, cultists and fraudsters, but we know that our members are not kidnappers, fraudsters or cultists. We decided to investigate the matter and understood that the petition was written to get the accused out of the NYSC camp and their parents’ homes. A further investigation revealed that the school management was acting because the students wrote against them on social media…”

The detainees appeared in court yesterday for hearing but were taken back to Amawbia prisons because the court did not sit due to the absence of the judge.