By Douglas Okoro
Abakaliki – The Ebonyi School Committee on Anti-loitering and Hawking, set up by the government on Tuesday in Abakaliki arrested no fewer than 20 students at different locations in Abakaliki metropolis.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who covered the exercise, reports that the affected persons were picked between the hours of 9a.m. and 10a.m. for loitering and hawking.
Commissioner for Education, Prof. John Eke who led the committee on the assignment decried the attitude of some students who chose to wander about on the streets instead of being in their respective classes.
Eke who addressed the arrested students said that the state government would not tolerate truancy and any type of indiscipline on the part of students.
“We as a government must do everything within our powers to ensure that we eliminate the attitude of loitering, hawking by our pupils and students during the school hours.
“We have punishment enshrined in our law to regulate anti social behaviour among school children and will not hesitate to invoke sanction stipulated by the law against offenders.
“Please do not be seen outside of the school premises during school hours and always ensure that you go to school on time, ” Eke said.
He urged parents and guardians who encouraged their children and wards to indulge in hawking during the official school hours to desist from such acts.
“If any pupil or student is caught for either hawking, loitering or going late to school and it is established that the parents or guardians of such school child was responsible, the affected parents or guardians will bear the penalty, ” he added.
NAN reports that the School Committee on Anti loitering and Hawking was established in 2015 to tackle the menace of hawking and loitering by children of school age as well as check lateness to school.
NAN also reports that arrested pupils and students are kept in remand home, and are released on the payment of between N1,500 and N2,000 and written undertaken by the parents or guardians of arrested person.
