Osun Govt Dismisses Report Of Attack On NYSC Corps Members

• Says Hoodlums, Not Students Attack School

Osun state government has explained that hoodlums and not students allegedly attacked the Osogbo High School where some members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) were serving in 2017, saying that at no time did students of the school attack any NYSC member.

The government in a press statement signed by the Commissioner for Education, Mr Kola Omotunde-Young said, it has eliminated cultism in public schools, as he also stated that there was no official complaint or withdrawal of corps members from any school from the NYSC Directorate office before the report.

According to Omotunde-Young, the alleged attacked school was the old Osogbo High School with porous and broken down fence at its far end at the back.

Omotunde-Young stated that the school was besieged sometime in 2017 by hoodlums who found accommodation in some abandoned buildings around the premises adjoining the school at the rear.

He added that the government reported the presence and activities of the hoodlums to the State Security Service and Police who restored order through arrests, prosecution and surveillance since 2017.

The commissioner wondered why incident that happened almost a year ago, with no official complaint by NYSC that any corps members were ever endangered, could be a subject of complaint and media syndication in March 2018.

Omotunde-Young said the school has adequate number of full time teachers and N-Power volunteer teachers who have continued to do their work without hinderance or danger, stating that the school has not made request for NYSC Corps member neither as it been turned down.

He said the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is committed to promoting quality and functional education and the welfare of the corps members in the state.

The statement reads in part: “Osun has eliminated cult activities and hooliganism from its Elementary, Middle and High schools and have been greatly commended for these.

“Osun has been acknowledged and commended locally and by international agencies for its successes at undertaking substantial reform of the school system, with new world class school infrastructure, decentralisation of management through creation of Senatorial Districts headed by Tutor Generals/PSs’, and strict quality enforcement and re-orientation of students through the newly established Osun Education Quality Assurance and Morality Enforcement Agency.”

“The government of Rauf Aregbesola has delivered 9 world class High schools each with capacity to accommodate 3000 students and another 2 of these are to be delivered in two months. These schools are state-of-the-arts and provide secure environments for learning. In addition 25 world class Middle schools and 22 world class Elementary schools have been delivered.

“It has also carried out renovations on hundreds of schools, delivering more than 1,694 standard classrooms in the existing elementary, middle and high schools. More than 12,000 qualitative teachers have been employed by the Aregbesola administration to boost manpower in the school system.

“Osun is acknowledged as one of the safest states in the country due to the state government’s commitment to security of lives and property.

“The government will continue to support NYSC as it is doing in its more than 1000 schools and assures the NYSC and all cadets of the state government’s commitment to their best interest.”