by Chinwe Okafor

The Nigeria Union of Teachers has pinpointed the involvement of pupils in cult-related activities as one of the factors causing unrest in secondary schools in Osun State, the state NUT Public Relations Officer, Mr. Boye Abolurin, revealed in an interview with Punch.

According to him, teachers no longer discipline their pupils because of fear of attack on their lives.

He said, “The state government has officially shut down Osogbo High School and Technical School because of the crisis. Some of the pupils are in one cult group or another.

“They beat teachers at will and if you discipline them, their parents would call people in high places and since nobody wants to die, teacher just leave them to do whatsoever they like.

“There is no more discipline in schools. The issue of single uniform is also assisting the pupils to commit offences and go scot-free.

Abolurin added that the school merger, which led to a sharp increase in the population in many schools, was making it easy for “bad boys and girls from various schools to converge and carry out their evil plans.

He added, “The principal, who was attacked at Ejigbo eventually died. He died about six months ago. Who knows whether they used charms on him?”

A pupil of the Government Technical College, Osogbo, last year attacked a male teacher of the Osogbo Grammar School with an axe.

The Ministry of Education had last week announced the closure of the two schools following another round of crisis in order to curtail any further disturbances in the schools.

Ada Igboanugo