The Sogakofe District Police Command of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) in collaboration with the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) has arrested four students of Comboni Vocational Technical School (COMVOTECH) for allegedly vandalizing the main gate and a classroom block of Sogakofe Senior High School (SOGASCO) in the South Tongu District of the Volta region.
The Headmaster of the Sogakofe Senior High School, Mr. Newman Dziedzoave indicated that the Police are still on the lookout for some culprits who were able to escape. He noted that the four arrested current students and four old students of Comvotech are liaising with the police to investigate the issue.
“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 Combotech students accosted him that he should tuck in his shirt…and kneel”
Mr. Newman Dziedzoave
Mr. Newman Dziedzoave noted that realizing he was outnumbered, the Sogasco student who was being bullied by the Combini students complied. He stated that videos that had been taken of the Sogasco student were then shared on social media with the caption, “We have conquered Sogasco”. He reasoned that this started the recent feud between the two schools.
He indicated that the actions of the Comvotech infuriated the entire student body of Sogasco. He narrated that on 6th March 2024, when students of Comvotech came for the independence anniversary parade in Sogasco, students of Sogasco also asked, Comvotech students who put their shirts on, to tuck in, an order the Comvotech students refused to comply with.
Mr. Newman Dziedzoave indicated that that was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. He stated that the refusal of the students of Comvotech to comply brought about an exchange. According to the headmaster, students from both schools started throwing stones at each other which got one of the drivers of Comvotech injured.
How Things Escalated
He noted even though the school authorities could not establish who hit the driver with the stone, the school, Sogasco, decided to send him to the hospital for medical attention. However, upon the discharge of the driver, he and other leaders of Sogasco took him, the driver, to the Campus of Comvotech only for him, Mr. Newman, to be attacked again by the students of Comvotech.
He indicated that he reported the actions of the students to the Principal of Comvotech and the District Police Service at Sogakope. “See what they have done to us today again” he added
He further specified that the police were around to take videos and pictures of the destructed classroom block and the gate as evidence. He maintained that the rivalry between the two schools has been of major concern to the leadership of both schools. He stated that the District Assembly and the District Director of Education are collaborating to resolve the issue.
“Currently reports have been made to the Regional Director [of education] and Regional Minister as well through my Board Chairman so I believe the District Assembly Education will work with the Minister for us to put this under control”.
Mr. Newman Dziedzoave
Currently, the four students who were arrested are still in police custody assisting investigation. A District Security Council (DISEC) meeting is scheduled on Monday, March 11, 2024, to address the issue. Meanwhile, some students of Sogasco are living in fear that an attack may be launched again after recent incidents between the two schools.
However, Mr. Maxwell Lukutor, a former National President of the Sogasco Old Students Association (SOSA), and an aspiring Member of Parliament on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the South Tongu Constituency, has assured that he would help arbitrate to find permanent peace between the two schools.
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