The Federal Capital Territory FCT Ministerial Enforcement Taskforce on COVID-19 Regulations has warned school teachers in Abuja against flouting the COVID-19 safety protocols, vowing to arrest and prosecute defaulters.
Speaking after assessing the level of compliance across some schools in the territory, Head, Media and Enlightenment of the taskforce, Comrade Ikharo Attah decried a situation where school teachers grossly violated the guidelines, while students fully complied.
“What we saw was very strong compliance by the students, but very sadly, school workers, teachers, some security men and non-teaching staff believed that the compliance was strictly and only for students.
“You all saw it. We went to some schools where we saw teachers not putting on facemasks, we saw workers not putting on facemasks and we saw cleaners not putting on facemasks, but the students were almost 100 per cent in compliance with facemasks.
“Even the ones we saw in Kuruduma, a rural community, where both the students and teachers were not putting on facemasks.
“We actually felt so disappointed that teachers and school leaders who ought to be the ones spearheading this were the ones defaulting in complying with the guidelines. They are not leading by example. If the teachers don’t put on facemasks, the students won’t also put them on.
“It was so pathetic and sad enough that the teachers did not even have facemasks when we asked them, but the students were bringing out theirs in the rural school.
“It is quite disheartening, but we warned them strongly that, today is the day of grace, when we get to those schools next and find them violating the guidelines, we will arrest all of them and charge them to court.”
According to Attah, it was strategic inspecting the schools on the third day after the resumption as most school administrators had expected and fully prepared for such inspection on the first day.
Some of the schools inspected were Government Secondary School, Tudun Wada, Wuse Zone 4, Junior Secondary, Wuse Zone 3, Government Secondary School, Garki, Festival Road Primary School, Garki, and LEA primary school, Kuruduma.
Vanguard