Staff of the Federal Government Girls College, Calabar on Tuesday took to the streets to protest against the alleged brutalization of staff of the school by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
They alleged that the DSS stormed the school on February 2 and manhandled some staff.
It was alleged that a DSS staff, an aunt of a student who was flogged by a teacher, led the assault.
Some placards they carried read, “We need justice no Nigerian factor,” “Teachers are agents of development, DSS be warned”, “We need justice, perpetrators must be brought to book”, “Sting Operation not for teachers,” and “DSS stop the molestation of innocent teachers”.
They marched from the school premises along Goodluck Jonathan Bypass to the Cross River State House of Assembly and the Governor’s Office where they dropped letters to register their grievance.
The state Chairman of the union, Ogunyemi Akinwunmi, also a teacher in the school, said they were protesting to ensure that the perpetrators of the alleged act are brought to book
“As a union we have written a petition and as a body sent a message to our national headquarters in Lagos. The union is not taking this lightly. Our slogan is injury to one is injury to all. If we don’t tackle this now, we don’t know where it would happen next. We want the world to know what happened here. It would not be swept under the carpet. Even though the Ministry is doing something, the union cannot just sit down,” he said.
The state Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Clarkson Otu, who also participated in the protest said, “We need justice and perpetrators have to be brought to book. Those who took the laws into their hands must be punished. We are doing this peacefully because we are peace-loving Nigerians.”
At the House of Assembly, the Speaker, Mr. John Gaul Lebo, who was represented by the Clerk of the House, said “We were all trained by teachers. Teachers should also get their reward on earth. We would ensure that justice is done.”
A Director in the office of the State Security Adviser, Mr. Etam Eno, who received the protesters promised to convey the message to the governor.