St. Winifred Girls’ Secondary School, a college owned by the Catholic Diocese of Gboko and located at Ihugh in Vandeikya local government area of Benue State, was on Saturday set ablaze by what eye witnesses believe to be arsonists.
While residents of the area described it as the fourth time in a short span of time that this develish act by suspected arsonists would repeat itself, the latest incident also taking place on the International Day of the Girl Child, has thrown the community into shock and raised suspicions of a deliberate plot against the all-girls institution.
Information available indicates that the school has been gutted by fire almost three to four times in recent years, with the cause of the inferno always unknown. People familiar with the previous cycle of events said it was the fourth time in a short period that the school had been torched, insisting that what has happened this time is also not ordinary.
According to them, for the barbaric act to repeat itself on the International Day of the Girl Child means that the perpetrators are sending a message to the proprietor of the school.
“If my memory serves me well, this is the third or fourth time this is happening to this Girls Secondary School. If education is not accepted in that community, they may accept security. In other words, the Diocese should relocate the school to a more suitable and accommodating environment, and the existing buildings or structures be converted to either an Army or Police barrack by the State government,” said one resident of the neighborhood where the school is located.
Another concerned person suggested that the school be relocated to Adikpo in another local government area called Kwande, noting that the people there love education and can do everything possible to protect the school.
Yet, another man, in his remarks, cautioned against hasty relocation, saying the management of the school should have considered installing CCTV cameras by now.
“We need to find the culprits and establish a motive first. Moving the school won’t solve the problem, unless the arson is a fallout of a land ownership dispute. It could also be the work of a mentally deranged person, or someone on a vengeance mission. These occurrences are too frequent for comfort,” he noted.
