As if violence and lawlessness have become a new normal in this country, no fewer than 57 students of the Government Technical College in Orita Aperin, Ibadan, Oyo State, were recently apprehended by the police for allegedly invading CAC Grammar School, Ibadan, and causing significant property damage, especially to the school?s laboratory which is said to be under renovation. It is yet unclear what prompted the misguided students to raid another educational institution but the havoc they wreaked with the ferocious attack is obvious for all to see. Properties worth over N25 million were reportedly destroyed by the malefactors in school uniform! The properties damaged included the car of a staffer of the besieged school whose front and rear glasses were scattered. An engineer working on the renovation of the laboratory was also allegedly injured in the attack while some innocent passersby also reportedly received machete cuts during the attacks.

It is ominous that this dastardly incident occurred in Ibadan just two weeks after six suspects were arrested in Niger State over a violent clash involving secondary school students. The argument, which was said to have been over mundane issue like girlfriends, which ordinarily shouldn?t be of any significance to serious students at that level of educational pursuit, soon snowballed into an intra-community clash that resulted in gunshot wounds to the thighs of two minors ages 10 and 11! Students of Annur Islamic Model School, Chaichainiya, and youths from Zuma Bread in the same area of Suleja Local Government Area were pitted against each other. An SSS 3 student in company with about 20 students reportedly invaded the area with dangerous weapons to launch the assault. This is the abysmally low level into which discipline and morality have sunk in the society. Now, decency and decorum are becoming a rarity among secondary school students. This is particularly a saddening turn of events, especially at a time whn the country is just savouring a seeming respite from the hitherto pervasive cult activities in tertiary institutions. Cultism and its deleterious activities would appear to have declined in intensity and frequency on the campuses of higher institutions lately, even though security agencies are contending with the burgeoning, pernicious activities of cultists and gangsters on the streets of cities and major towns in the South. It is terrible.

The growing tendency of secondary school students in Ibadan to slip into violence and lawlessness, attacking everyone and everything in sight, is really worrisome. Such incidents have been a recurring decimal in the city for years. It is so bad that many secondary school teachers who own cars are said to be wary of bringing them to the school premises to avoid damage to their cars in the event of violent attacks by students which could happen at any time. Perhaps the most disturbing part is that there had been no serious and pragmatic official action to nip such incidents in the bud. It is, nonetheless, comforting that the government may have begun to treat the matter with the seriousness it deserves after the instant incident. For instance, the Commissioner of Police, Oyo State, Johnson Adenola, who confirmed that he personally interviewed the students involved in the attack and lamented the level of decadence that had crept into public secondary schools in Ibadan, swiftly called a meeting of stakeholders to examine the matter. The stakeholders? meeting had in attendance the Special Adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde on Security Matters, CP Fatai Owoseni (retd); Commissioner of Education, Salihu Adelabu and others having one thing or the other to do with security, youth development and education. The meeting was held at the Eleyele Police Headquarters in Ibadan. In his address, the Commissioner for Education, Adelabu, decried the growing level of indiscipline in public schools, warning that the government would no longer condone any act of indiscipline, and that whoever was found culpable of any misdemeanor would be made to face the music. It is hoped that the government will match its words with action and rein in the proclivity for violence by secondary school students. It is counter-productive for an educational institution designed to play a significant role in producing the leaders of tomorrow to be actively churning out gangsters.

Gangster students cannot possibly be future leaders of the country. That is why it is imperative to redress the circumstances that throw up hoodlums and miscreants at the foundation level. There is no gainsaying the fact that gangsters are mostly products of dysfunctional families, weak parenting and warped societal values. The society seems to be breeding brigands instead of disciplined, responsible and realistically ambitious patriots. And unless the menace is treated decisively at the foundation level, the emergence of hooligans and vandals from many home fronts will continue. And that invariably means that the bulk of the needed reorientation and retooling of character and conduct has to be executed largely by parents and guardians and, to a little extent, teachers. We urge the state government to wield the big stick now in order to promote dignity, respect for constituted authority and the law of the country. Specifically, the 17 students whose involvement in the recent violence has been confirmed should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. The counterproductive approach of treating criminals with kid gloves because they are students should be jettisoned. There were instances in the past where some gangsters and cultists in tertiary institutions killed their fellow students and, in the end, they were let off the hook instead of being made to face capital punishment or at least life imprisonment. That kind of treatment simply incentivises further criminal acts.

The law must be allowed to take its course at all times. We enjoin prosecutors of criminal cases to always charge suspects under the apposite codes. It is imperative to note that judges are not Santa Claus, and seldom grant reliefs or impose sanctions not pleaded by prosecutors. If students who engage in acts of lawlessness are punished according to the law, it will serve as a deterrent to those who may want to tread the deplorable path of violence and criminality under the guise of being students. It will also serve as a proper lesson to parents and guardians that shirk the primary responsibility of proper upbringing of their children. Teachers, students and other members of the school community need serious protection from the onslaught of violent students. The government must offer such protection at all times. (Nigerian Tribune Editorial)

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