FROM ONYEKACHUKWU MELUWA, WARRI
Students of Government School, Ijibor and other schools in Bekwara Local Government Area of Cross River State are frightened to return to the classroom nearly 48 hours after three armed men allegedly stormed the school in an attempt to abduct students.
In an interview with our correspondent yesterday, Reverend Father Thomas Onabe of St Mary Quasi Parish, Ugboro Ijibor, who led community members to repel the suspected attackers, confirmed that students and their parents are overwhelmed with fear.
He said the panic is so severe that local women staged a nude protest, demanding immediate protection of their children before schools could safely reopen.
Recounting how the incident unfolded, the priest said parishioners had alerted him after spotting unfamiliar armed men within the school premises while school was in session.
“My members and other eyewitnesses in Ijibor community told me that they saw three heavily armed Fulani men enter the school premises. Having heard of kidnapping of schoolchildren in other parts of the country, the people mobilised quickly and raised alarm, which startled the armed men,” he said.
According to him, the suspects fled into the forest behind the school, an expansive area close to Ogoja Army Barracks, when they realised the crowd was growing and becoming confrontational.
He explained that youths, armed only with sticks, knives and other local weapons, followed him into the forest where they conducted a nearly three-hour search but were unable to locate the fleeing men.
Onabe stressed that while peaceful Fulani herders live in the forest with their cattle, the three men who entered the school were armed and with clear hostile intent, prompting the community’s decision to confront them.
He added that the community’s bravery had helped restore some confidence, but many women who protested remain deeply traumatised and still fear that the attackers may return.
The cleric called for continuous security in the affected schools, revealing that army and police operatives had visited the area.
Due to the lingering tension, community leaders have ordered the closure of schools in the area, even though students are in the middle of examinations.
When contacted, the Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, SP Igri Ewa said the police would soon issue an official statement on the matter.
