Students arrested over classroom romance

The Rivers Police said they arrested two secondary students at the Community Secondary School, Nkpolu Oroworukwo, in Mile Diobu, Port Harcourt, for allegedly engaging themselves in erotic acts in an isolated classroom within the school premises.

It was gathered that the two senior secondary school students were allegedly engaged in the act, unknowingly they were being recorded by one of their classmates.

Their classmate who discreetly took the video of the erotic scene then sent it to a fellow student through WhatsApp which in turn then swent round the students.

Soon afterwards, the attention of the management of the school was drawn to the situation, when a male teacher stumbled on the video on the phone of one of the students the video was transferred to.

Our correspondent gathered that the school management then invited the police from the Nkpolu Divisional Police headquarters in Mile, Port Harcourt, leading to the arrest of two students involved in the love triangle.

Also arrested were a male student who took the video and another of same-sex whom the video was transferred to.

A parent of one of the arrested students, who did not want her name in print for fear of being stigmatised, confirmed the incident to our reporter but declined further comments.

When contacted, the Principal of the School, Mrs. Patience Nwachukwu, expressed sadness over the situation, saying the affected students were a bad influence and that such behaviour could not be condoned.

She said, “Those children are a bad influence and we can’t condone that. After now they will have to be expelled from the school.

“I will still have to get to my boss to report and tell them the action I intend to take. But that is what I think is the best, because if they go unpunished tomorrow others will join and nothing will happen.”

The spokesperson for the State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, could not be reached for her comments as her mobile telephone was not connecting as of the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, a rights group, the Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, said it was informed of the incident by a parent of one of the arrested students.

The national coordinator of the group, Prince Wiro, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Thursday, however, pleaded that the students should be cautioned and released afterwards.

Wiro also said the school should rise to the occasion by invoking internal mechanisms and mete out appropriate punishment to the students.

He said, “A mother to one of the arrested students informed me of the incident on Wednesday night (November 30).

“I think ordinarily it is a matter the school can handle through their internal disciplinary measures. But if the management of the school in its wisdom decides to hand them over to the police for cautionary measures, it is not out of place.

“However, I would have expected that the police to release all the students after cautioning them, rather than releasing some of the students and holding onto some, from the information at our disposal.”

(Punch)