ONDO State Police Command has arrested a mother, Dorcas Asije, and four others over assault on Alexander Rotifa, the vice principal of Complete Child Development College, Aule, Akure.
Asije, mother of a student accused of cheating during the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), is alleged to have ochestrated the attack on the vice principal.
The attack, on May 26, has been widely condemned by Nigerians and the state government..
Police spokesperson, Olayinka Alayande, confirmed the arrests in a statement on Monday, June 2, noting that the operation was led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) following a directive from the Commissioner of Police, CP Wilfred Olutokunbo Afolabi.
“Following the assault on the Vice Principal of Complete Child Development Centre Akure, the Ondo State Police Command arrested Mrs. Dorcas Asije and four other accomplices.
“Acting on the directive of the Commissioner of Police, CP Wilfred Olutokunbo Afolabi, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) led a tactical team to ensure their swift arrest. The case has been transferred to SCID and will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigation,” the statement read.
Backstory
According to the preliminary report issued by the Ondo Ministry of Education, the incident leading to the assault of Rotifa began on Monday, May 26, when he confiscated an Android phone from an SSS3 student, Wisdom Elisha, after he was allegedly caught using it to cheat during a WASSCE paper.
The confiscation sparked outrage from the student’s mother, who stormed the school days later and verbally assaulted the management.
She also reportedly threatened violence if her son was not allowed to use a phone in future exams.
The report noted that in an effort to de-escalate the situation, the school returned the seized phone.
However, the student’s older brother, who was said to be a former pupil of the school, later visited the premises and allegedly warned the vice principal that he would deal with him.
“After school hours, the boys were seen loitering in the street, and the proprietor was informed. He told Mr Rotifa to go to the police station to lodge a complaint. He went, and two policemen took him in their van to look for the boys, probably for arrest. They couldn’t get them. As they were going back to the station, the boys waylaid the police van, stopped it, brought out Mr Rotifa and beat him up. He was taken to the hospital for treatment.
“According to the principal of the school, he has been discharged from the hospital but did not go back to his house for fear of the boys coming back for him. Further investigations and efforts to get the culprit are in progress,” the statement added.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M