By Sandra Nnaemeka
The management of the of Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, Anambra State has denied rumours that 16 female students of its secondary arm, Demonstration Secondary School have been declared missing.
Rumours had spread through the state of the invasion of the school by hoodlums, causing commotion in the hostel, while students scampered to safety, after which about 16 of the girls were said to have gone missing.
But a press release by Mr Sam Otti, public relations officer of the institution described the rumours as outright false.
He, however, confirmed that the school was invaded by some hoodlums, whose intent was to steal beverages from students of the college, but were quickly confronted, causing confusion in the hostel.
The release reads, “The attention of the management has been drawn to a widespread rumour of 16 female students missing from her secondary school arm, Demonstration Secondary School, Eziagu, following a burglary incident on Saturday night.
“The Management was alerted of an unfortunate incident where some hoodlums scaled the tall perimeter fence into the school premises and made their way into the hostels purposely to steal students’ beverages.
“The hoodlums were confronted by a porter and other staff on duty, who alerted the college security. The porter was injured in the process and is currently receiving treatment in a hospital.
“The commotion from the students in their hostels and efforts of the security men on duty forced the miscreants to escape from the scene.”
It stated that the DPO, Umunze police division and the monarch of the community have been alerted of the unfortunate incident, and the management of the institution has visited the school and ordered the College Chief Security Officer to reinforce security within the school premises, while more security officers have been deployed to the school for round-the-clock patrol.
The release further stated that, “Management reassures the students and their parents of high safety standard of the school, while assuring them that they will work closely with all the relevant security agencies to unmask the identities of these hoodlums and bring them to book.”
The institution also appealed to social media commentators to demonstrate responsibility in their reportage and ensure that the public get only the true version of events.