Mayhem at Denu SPACO ; One student killed by stray bullet
Students of St Paul’s Senior High School (SPACO) at Denu in the Ketu South District in the Volta Region went on rampage last Friday, resulting in the death of a 17-year-old student, Rakid Akio, who was hit by a stray bullet.
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The rampaging students vandalised the office and residence of the Senior Housemaster, Mr Edmund Gadzekpo, causing extensive damage to office property, his car and valuable property at the residence.
It all started soon after an inter-house athletics competition which ended about 5.30 p.m.
The wild jubilation by the students was cut short by a power outage.
Alleged sodomy
According to the headmaster of the school, Mr Francis Alorgbe, there was an anti-climax when news broke that two students, one in form two and the other in form three, had been held hostage by a section of their mates who had threatened to lynch the two for allegedly engaging in sodomy.
He said Mr Gadzekpo, with the aid of others, intervened by way of an attempt to rescue the two students from facing the wrath of their mates but the students ignored the intervention by the senior housemaster, with the excuse that they had reported many cases of sodomy on the compound but the authorities had failed to take action.
Confusion
He said the stalemate developed into a row between the senior housemaster and his group and the students, adding that the police were called to the scene and they started firing shots with the aim of scaring the students away. But instead of going away, they rather started throwing stones, making the police to retreat.
Then the police returned with a reinforcement and during the ensuing melee, the two students were whisked away from the school compound while a stray bullet hit Akio, killing him and the body deposited at the Police Hospital mortuary.
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Mr Alorgbe said the senior housemaster managed to escape the wrath of the students and the students attempted to pursue him to his hideout, leading to the invasion of his office and his residence.
“They vandalised his bungalow, his car and a motorbike, smashed his TV set and also scaled the administrative block and forced their way into his office, vandalised the place and also smashed the back door glass of the office,” he said.
He said the body of Akio was buried in Ho yesterday, according to Muslim tradition.
The 17-year-old, according to sources, was offered admission on January 12, 2015 but reported to school on Monday, January 19, 2015.
Meanwhile, the school authorities, in consultation with the Volta Regional Education Office and the Ketu South District Chief Executive, have closed down the school indefinitely, and the 1,141 boarders sent home.
Police intervention
The Deputy Volta Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr William Akpese, who was in the school, said there had been police reinforcement from Ho, Dzodze, Aflao and Accra to help maintain law and order in the school.
He said the two students allegedly caught in sodomy were in police custody and would be made to give their statements and thereafter considered for bail.
Mr Akpese said everything was under control, as an adequate number of policemen had been deployed to ensure calm.