Parents raise alarm over alleged extortion in Akwa Ibom unity school, seek FG’s intervention

Parents of students at the Federal Government College, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State have appealed to the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, to intervene in the alleged extortion and multiple charges by the school management and the Parent-Teacher Association, PTA of the institution.

Mr Etim Ikong, a parent whose ward is in the senior class, claimed that the school management asked all parents whose wards are in SS1 to pay N20,000 for uniforms, which, according to him, had already been paid to the federal government through Remita Retrieval Reference, RRR, to designated banks.

Speaking to journalists, Ikong said one of the items in the RRR was N25,000 for uniforms, and most parents had already paid, obtained bank tellers and were awaiting receipts before checking their wards into the hostel.

Ikong said parents were surprised when the school management threatened to send students home if they refused to pay another N20,000, allegedly for the same purpose.

He said the school broke down the amount to include N7,500 for mattress cover and N12,500 for uniforms, totalling N20,000.

He lamented, “If they extort N20,000 from 600 students in SS1, it amounts to N12,000,000 from one class alone. They would also extort from new intakes in JS1, as they would be received on 4th October. This is not acceptable.

“We queried such payments and argued that it has already been paid as one of the items in the Remita bank payment, but the PTA representatives argued that it must be paid. We discovered that N7,500 was charged for bed cover on a mattress donated by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to students and delivered during the holiday.”

Another parent, Chinedu Ike, who was visibly stranded at the school premises, said he had to call his brother in Abia State to transfer the money before he could pay and check in his son in SS1.

Expressing reservations over the absence of the PTA exco and the principal during resumption formalities, Ike said, “Imagine the principal and PTA chairman with her exco absent on the resumption day of Unity School because they know that parents would be angry over this extortion. It has not happened before. My son is in SS1, and in the past years, the teams have always been available to receive students.

Meanwhile, there were other parents who refused to pay the fee, stressing, “We can’t pay for what we have already paid through the bank to the federal government. How can they charge us for uniforms which have been clearly spelt out in the ‘RRR’ for payment in the bank to government?

“We, therefore, call on the Minister of Education to investigate this issue.”

The principal of the college, Mr Emmanuel Didi, in reaction to the allegation in a telephone interview, said the initial payment was N25,000, but he tried to reduce it to N20,000 following parents’ outcry, promising that everything will be addressed.

“Initially, we planned to collect N25,000 from female students, but because of the outcry, we just asked both boys and girls to pay N20,000. It will be settled.”