49 schools shut, 5 proprietors arrested over alleged illegalities in Ebonyi 

By Uchenna Okeh Abakaliki 

No fewer than forty nine schools have been shutdown and five school proprietors arrested by taskforce in Ezza North local government area of the state.

The chairman of Ezza North LGA, Moses Ogodo-Ali who spoke to newsmen in Abakaliki on why the schools were shutdown said: “There is a policy of government in the state that all illegal schools should be closed.

“And I am a man who respects government a lot. When it was introduced to me that it is even on the air that illegal schools, Muslim schools that have no record should be closed.

And I approve that the committee set up by the Ministry of Education should go ahead and do their work.

This they did, because the schools were illegally operating in the areas.”Anything sort of that, I don’t know. 

But when you talk about politics, remove politics from education, remove politics from health,remove politics from agriculture, these are the life wire of every human being. If you don’t eat, you will die.

“If you need medication and are not treated, you will die. If you don’t go to school, you will grow as an ordinary vegetable.

Therefore, people should not politicize issues of education, health and agriculture.”People should do the right thing, if you want to open a school, to follow the due process.

 The due process of opening a school. If you follow the due process of opening a school, you open a school” he said.

Earlier, one of the taskforce, Elom Solomon an education supervisor in Ezza North LGA who spoke to newsmen said: “We acted in line with the state government directive to fish out all the unapproved schools and the quack schools, especially those schools that are in the village. 

“Some of them are in the open hall, some of themare in one room.So, that’s what we’re doing to make sure that the government’s policy is implemented.

We can’t clampdown on any school that meets up with the standard of the policy of education in Ebonyi state” he stated.

Another, Nwonuku Francis, education secretary in Ezza North local government area who also spoke to newsmen said: “we closed down 49 schools in Ezza North LGA because they are substandard. They are unapproved schools. 

“Some of the school proprietors are in the police nets” and however advised parents to go and register their kids in the government approved schools.

In a related development, Nwonuku, however denied an allegation making the rounds in the state that the affected schools were shutdown as result of victimization and extortion.