By CHARLES IWUOHA

The Chairman of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Ebonyi State Chapter, Mr. Felix Nomeh, has accused the State Government of recruiting suspected cultists into the committee set up to enforce the closure of illegal and substandard schools in Ezza North Local Government Area.

Nomeh, who is also a member of the school closure task force, made the allegation while addressing journalists in Abakaliki on Tuesday.

He stated that some individuals in the committee have turned the exercise into a platform for intimidation and harassment.

According to him, the committee was established to identify and shut down illegal schools across the local government but has since been infiltrated by questionable characters.

?There is a new policy on the closure of illegal and substandard schools, and the team here is to enforce that order,? Nomeh said.

?In Ezza North, where I come from, I am one of the committee members. The Secretary of the Local Education Authority is also a member, and the Area Inspector of Education (AIE) is a member. We have been commissioned to ensure that illegal and substandard schools are closed in Ezza North.?

He explained that during the enforcement process, some school proprietors and teachers were arrested. However, he said the teachers were only struggling to survive through their jobs and did not deserve to be detained.

?So, I had the passion of asking that the teachers be released and that we focus on the proprietors whom we consider to be deviant,? he said.

?That is the problem. I didn?t know that the driver and some of the cultists they brought into the committee were the ones now fighting and threatening to kill me for asking for permission to release those five teachers.?

Mr. Nomeh alleged that the group?s actions have gone beyond enforcement, claiming that some individuals within the task force have been intimidating him since he questioned their methods.

?One of the teenagers, a student, was arrested. And on the way, the Civil Defence leader came, and that one was also released,? he continued.

?So, I am appealing release these four persons. Four persons, only four persons. And that is why the cultists in the midst are threatening to kill me.?

He further stated that despite his attempt to report the matter to the appropriate authorities, the suspects were not handed over to the police as expected.

?We went to the command, but unfortunately, they were not dropped there,? he said.

?I had thought of leaving the suspects there so that I could talk to OC Crack, who is in the position to arrest them. Because when I met the Honourable Commissioner for Education on this issue, he told me that where there is conflict, I should report directly to OC Crack.?

?So, as we went to the command, the suspects were not dropped there. We came back, and I was still waiting for them to release those five persons.

When contacted on phone conversation, Dr. Ilang Donatus, the Commissioner for Primary and Secondary Education in Ebonyi State, denied the allegation, describing it as ?baseless and reckless.?

Ilang challenged the NAPPS chairman to provide credible evidence linking the government or any of its committee members to cultism or face legal action.

?Let him produce evidence of the employment of any cultists in the committee, otherwise I will not hesitate to charge him to court,? the commissioner said.

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