Tumu SECTEC disturbances culminating in its closure

Some students of the Tumu Senior High Technical School (Tumu SECTECH), from about 2300 hours to 0200 hours Thursday, held the entire school to hostage when they went on rampage vandalizing property and attacking staff.

This was because teachers had seized mobile handsets of the final year students writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination and prevented candidates from entering the examination hall with foreign materials.

They rioted and destroyed school property, cutting off power and water supplies to the School, and chasing out teaching and non-teaching staff who run helter-skelter for their lives.

The Police were called in to save the situation, which was escalating as the students pelted the teachers with stones.

They arrested about 29 students but tensions were still high forcing the District Security Council and the Ghana Education Service to recommend closure of the School.

“We moved in immediately, unable to control the situation, we called in the Police Patrol Team to assist and we managed to bring the situation under control by 2 am,” the Sissala East Municipal Police Commander, DSP Stephen Abanga, told the Ghana News Agency.

Residents staying around the School said they started hearing unusual noises from inside the compound in the night and it continued until dawn. The School is without a fence wall and so it was quite easy for the irate students to move and launch scuffing attacks on their targets.

But for the timely intervention of the Police and reinforcement from the Ghana Armed Forces the destruction would have been bigger, according to police reports and eyewitnesses.

On the morning of Friday, May 24, stakeholders including the Headmaster and staff, Sissala East Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Karim Nanyua, the Acting Municipal Director of Education, Alhaji Mutawakilu Fasasi, officials of the Ghana Education Service, security agencies, the Parent Teacher Association the School’s Board of Governors were around to assess the extent of damage.

The damage covered destruction of staff bungalows including that of the Headmaster, Senior Housemaster, Assistant Headmaster and two other staff. Their personal effects were destroyed and scattered while utility points had been disturbed, affecting water, electricity supply and telephone services.

A visit by the Ghana News Agency to the School showed scattered valuables and documents in offices and bungalows as well as broken louvre blades.

The Headmaster’s bungalow was broken into and ransacked with his sitting room and dining furniture destroyed, bedroom stuff tampered with, and curtains and wall clock scattered.

An old school vehicle had its windscreen broken while a black polytank for water storage was smashed. Some students looked worried as their teachers were seen chatting in groups in low tones, expressing shock over the incident.

Members of the community believed the strife was as a result of growing indiscipline due to unpunished misbehaviours of students.

Mr Abass Woyorbie Mbulibe, the Headmaster of the School, told the GNA that he was away in Wa when he was informed about the incident, which forced him to drive back.

“I don’t know what I have done to merit this from the students…,” he said. Two offices were forced opened and official documents destroyed.

Electricity meters belonging to the Volta River Authority were pummeled with bricks.

Security lights around the campus were removed, kitchen equipment destroyed and the Matron’s office looted.

An eight classroom structure used by the Form Three students had its louvre blades and glasses smashed. Two days before the disturbances school authorities were reported to have seized two buckets of mobile phones and burnt them before the students.

A senior staff of the School, who pleaded anonymity, said: “But this was to instill discipline, especially among the outgoing third years”. Some of the disgruntled third year students accused several teachers of keeping their confiscated phones illegally.

Some students said they were terrified and scandalized by the action of the seniors, orchestrated principally by the boys, adding; “They beat us to comply.” Mr Mumuni Yahaya, the School’s Board Chairman, expressed worry over the degree of destruction caused, describing the damage as enormous. He blamed the situation on growing indiscipline among students.

He said the final year students have been directed to come back to write their examination under security protection.