STUDENTS SUSPENDED AND EXPELLED FOR PRAYING IN LAGOS STATE

Recently in Lagos State, some students were suspended and expelled for having prayer sections. The question now is that, IS PRAYING TO GOD A CRIME?this is one of the most shocking news i have seen. Seven(7) students has been expelled and suspended from school for holding a prayer meeting after school hours at a Lagos public school, Gaskiya Senior College, Badia by the school authorities. The students, who are executive officers of Christian Students Union in the school, were also allegedly branded as cultists by the principal of the school, Mrs. Shobowale.

The names of the affected students,  all in Senior Secondary School 2, are John Otega, Michael Change, Valentina Okoye, Valentine Okoye, Faith Okolie, Chidinma Chidozie and Jennifer Emmanuel. The affected students have denied the allegation, claiming that they were being persecuted by the school authorities because of their faith. Newsmen gathered  that 12 students of the fellowship were holding their prayer meeting, when the principal saw them around 5 p.m. and told the security men to lock them up. The students also denied the principal’s claim that the expelled student, Jennifer slapped her and the security guard. They insisted that Jennifer mistakenly hit the principal while praying because she closed her eyes and was moving her hand around during the closing prayers. It was alleged that the next day, the principal paraded the 12 students during the morning assembly as cultists, an allegation they denied. The students were initially suspended for seven days but were given indefinite suspension, while the school prefects among them were allegedly relieved of their posts in the school. Following the incident, the parents of the affected students were said to have begged the principal to recall the students, but to no avail.

We are not cultist and we can never be ,i don't really know what the principle want from us,he doesn't really love to see us pray...one of the student explain. The Parents of some of the student  were also told to report to school with their children when they were sitting for the West African Examination Council, WAEC, as the school authorities said they had to be monitored because of their action. The parents  of the suspended students,  Mrs Beauty John, Mrs Felicia Okolie,Mrs Goodness Chidozie, Mrs Jacita Change, Mrs Tina Emmanuel and Mrs Chinweogo Okoye, have now called on the state governor to look into the matter.

In a letter written by the parents they accused the school principal of persecuting their children who are devoted Christians and  could not have been involved in cultism. “Our children are still at home doing nothing. What have these Christian students done to deserve this humiliation?  If this is how school principals are, we think such principals do not deserve to be principals and should be sacked,” they said. The Christian base organisation has told the state government to investigate this matter properly.