The incident apparently occurred on Sunday, March 10, 2024, about 1:00 a.m. Sliding panes at SOGASCO’s main door were allegedly damaged, and mosquito netting in one of the classroom blocks were apparently burnt.
Newman Dziedzoave, the headmaster of SOGASCO, stated that, while calm has been restored, four pupils and four residents have been apprehended by police in connection with the event.
“Let me assure you the situation is almost under control. Some arrests have been made this morning by the police and the NIB. So those who were actually behind the destruction, four of them have been picked, and others are on the run. So the four that have been picked are assisting the police with the investigation, together with four additional town boys who happened to be old students of Cambodia, which we suspect were hired to assist them. So the destruction is not only the gate, but one of the classroom blocks as well, “the headmaster confirmed.
He explained that the friction between the two institutions began when a SOGASCO student was admitted to Comboni Hospital a few weeks ago.
“About two weeks ago, a student of ours fell sick, and then one of the officers in the cadet took him to Comboni Hospital. At the hospital, he came out to buy something at the hospital gate for his colleague who was inside the yard. So when he came out, three Comboni students accosted him that he should tuck in his shirt.”
Mr Dziedzoave added that the SoOGASCO student declined, stating that he is also a senior at another school and that they did not have the power to ask him to tuck in at another institution. They did, however, threaten to beat him up if he refused to comply with their commands. Sensing danger, he knelt.
According to Mr Dziedzoave, “whilst kneeling, they took videos of him then later, these videos that they took of him, they posted it on their platform that they have conquered SOGASCO”
This, he stated, enraged the whole SOGASCO student body “So on 6th March 2024, when they came for the independence anniversary parade in our school, our students also asked them, those who put their shirts on, they asked them to tuck in, and they also refused.”
According to the headmaster, that was the final straw.
“So that brought about an exchange. They were throwing stones here and there. And so one of the drivers from Convotech got injured during the process.”
Mr Dziedzoave went on to add that even though they couldn’t figure out who hit the motorist with the stone, they opted to take him to the hospital for treatment.
However, after the driver was released, they took him to the Comboni Campus, where he was attacked again by students.
“So on Thursday, the driver was discharged. We sent him to his campus. When they realized that we were coming from SOGASCO, they started throwing stones at the vehicle, which we reported to the police and their principal. And this morning, this is what they have done to us again.”
About The Author
