No intimidation ‘ll make us compromise ethical standards, Anchor university VC declares

Anchor University vice chancellor, Prof. Samuel Bandele has reiterated that the school under his leadership would not succumb to any intimidation from any parents while upholding the ethical standards, which is the core value upon which the school foundation is laid.

Prof. Bandele made this declaration while reacting to a recent  case of bullying involving two students under investigation in the school, which was reported in the media.

The head of the school administration explained that the school had its internal mechanism to deal with cases of this nature noting that parents were expected to cooperate with the school management to carry out thorough investigation so as to unravel the veracity of the claims by alleged victims before justice is dispensed.

Laying the foundation to this case, the VC  recalled that one Mrs. Okoli (the mother of Chisome Okoli), who claimed that her son was allegedly bullied by one Emmanuel Onyema, a 400 level student in the school brought the matter to his attention.

“Immediately, I received the complaint I called on the school Chief Security Officer, Mr. Francis Audu to investigate the matter and report back to me his findings for further action. This is the standard procedure in our school. While the investigation was ongoing Mrs Okoli came to the school premises with two air-force officers to intimidate the CSO, who unknown to her was a retired military officer.

“Mr. Audu was civil enough to educate these officers about the implication of their action because they were on illegal assignment. These officers had no option that to stay off the case.

“As an institution, we view Mrs. Okoli’s action as an affront to the school authority and we will not tolerate it so as not to set dangerous precedence to other parents and the students as well. I say it with all sense of responsibility that no parent can intimidate the school authority to bend the school rules and regulations for whatever reasons.

“Despite this interruption, the CSO continued with the investigation but the two students were becoming more violence where they were kept while undergoing interrogation.

“It was at this point that the CSO ordered that the two students should go for drug test before they could continue with the investigation.

“The school has a standard laboratory manned by qualified  personnel that conduct medical examinations for students on campus”.

According to the report of the medical examination, both students tested positive to ban substance. And the law must take its course no matter who is involved.

The vice chancellor dismissed the claims by Mrs. Okoli that the school management might want to sweep the case of bullying being investigated under the carpet.

“This is far from the truth because the two students are to appear before Disciplinary Committee on the pending issue of bullying, where the case will be decided”, he explained further.

Also, the CSO, Mr. Audu tried to put the matter in proper perspective talking from his knowledge of the case during investigation.

He explained that during the interrogation, Emmanuel who was alleged bullying Mrs. Okoli’s son stated that Chisome Okoli had a pair of camouflage shorts, which he reportedly wears on campus to intimidate his school mates while claiming he was a soldier.

“We conducted a search into his apartment and found a short camouflage. And I asked Chisome Okoli: are you a soldier? He said, no, then I collected the camo shorts from him because he should not be in possession of such item,” he explained.

Mr Audu disclosed that Mrs Okoli came to the school premises with two air-force personnel while the investigation was ongoing stressing that he needed to warn these officers to steer clear of the matter thus making them to see the implications of their actions.

He stressed that the case took a new twist when he ordered that both students should be taking for drug test because they were becoming violent during the course of investigation.

“To my chagrin, the two boys tested positive to ban substance. And this brought a new dimension to the case under investigation because the law must take its course.

“So, we needed to refer the case to the appropriate authority for further action” he disclosed.

 Meanwhile, Prof. Bandele has affirmed that Anchor University has zero tolerance for acts of thuggery,  gangsterism and all forms of aberrant behaviour within the school system saying that any student that runs foul of the school rules and regulations will face the consequences.