The Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Johnson Adenola, has cautioned secondary school students in the state against cultism and gangsterism.
The CP gave the admonition when addressing students of Government Technical College, Ibadan and Christ Apostolic Church Grammar School, Ibadan, on Tuesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CP’s visit followed a clash between students of the two schools on March 20, during which school laboratory and other properties were destroyed while some students sustained various degrees of injuries.
Adenola said that the visit to the schools was aimed to forestall the reccurrence of the incident and to sensitise the students to the provisions of law on cultism and gangsterism.
He said that the 59 students arrested in connection with the violence had since been released on bail, but were still on the watch list of the command.
According to the CP, the students might face trial in the event of reccurrence of violence in either school.
“What we are preaching is for them to denounce cultism and stay away from every form of gangsterism, or any other violent conduct.
“We particularly chose this moment to have this programme because very soon, the schools will be going on holiday.
“We are conscious of the fact that they are writing exams, and they are rounding up the session.
“It has been a tradition that some schools fight one another after the exams instead of them to go home peacefully.
“We are here to sensitise and tell them to peacefully go home and engage in productive things after their exams,” he said.
The CP urged the students to desist from keeping bad friends that could lure them into drugs and other bad habits.
Adenola advised the students to be committed to their studies and find credible role models to tailor their lives after.
Similarly, Mr Olayinka Akanji, the Director of Secondary School Education, Oyo State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, urged the students to strive to become good ambassadors of their families and notable person in the future.
He said that both schools had produced notable personalities in Nigeria, urging the current students to work hard and be disciplined to surpass their schools’ records of achievements.
Speaking on behalf of both schools, the Principal of Government Technical College Ibadan, Mr Kayode Ayanyemi, lauded the efforts of the police command in the state to ensure safety of lives and properties.
He particularly commended the giant strides made by through the Police Command’s Safe Schools Initiative.
Also, Paul Adenola, President of the Students Representative Council, Government Technical College, assured that the students bodies would cooperate with the police to ensure continued peace and order in both schools and its environs. (NAN)
