My Neighborhood Watch #5 - Reporting Events Around us

I bring greetings to every member and friend of this great community (@steem4nigeria). It is yet another beautiful opportunity to bring you news from my neighborhood. Before I proceed, I want to acknowledge @xkool for this weekly contest.

As I mentioned some days back, news is one thing that will surely come our way daily because, as we sleep and wake up, events keep happening. The news could either be bad or good. Nevertheless, we always pray for the good ones. Unfortunately, today I bring you heart-touching news from my state (Taraba state).

Today's news is focused on the school principal who ran away with students' Neco fees.

The news in detail.

source

Students of Government Day Senior Secondary School (GDSSS) Garin Usumanu in Karim-Lamido LGA are reportedly in a distressed situation as the Principal of the school, Mr. Bello Yakubu, has allegedly absconded with NGN1,051,000 he collected as a fee for National Examination Council (NECO) registration for the 2022/2023 academic session. As a consequence of his action, some students cannot sit for the ongoing NECO exams, thereby creating uncertainty about their educational future.

It has come to light that Mr. Bello Yakubu collected registration fees from 43 students as per the NECO Board's directive for fulfilling exam requirements. Unfortunately, he reportedly failed to remit the funds to the appropriate NECO account but diverted the money for personal use.

The gravity of the situation unfolded on 11 July 2023, the day scheduled for the Biology Practical examination. As the students gathered at the examination center, the principal and the examiners with the question papers failed to show up. Frantic efforts by the school staff and the PTA Chairman to reach Mr. Bello on the phone proved futile as he reportedly consistently ignored their calls.

The community is concerned that Mr. Bello Bambur has a history of embezzling NECO registration fees. Before this incident, he was suspended from Munga Dosso Government Day Secondary School due to a similar misappropriation of funds. The neighboring Munga Lelau Community had rejected him for his embezzlement tendencies.

The situation has left the Garin Usumanu community outraged and they are urgently calling upon relevant authorities to investigate the matter. The community demands that Mr. Bello be compelled to return the students' registration fees, even if it requires confiscating his assets. Additionally, they have implored the Ministry of Education to allow the affected students to take the exams so that they do not lose the opportunity to pursue further education or future employment opportunities.

In light of this distressing incident, the community has urged the Ministry of Education to take disciplinary action against Mr. Bello as a form of deterrent for others who might contemplate such fraudulent activities. The community is also calling on relevant authorities to formally notify the NECO office about the diversion of students' registration money by Mr. Bello as a crucial step to ensuring that Garin Usumanu's Exam Center is not negatively affected by this fraudulent act.

"Time is of the essence and the Garin Usumanu community earnestly requests that concerned authorities treat this matter with the utmost urgency to avoid internal disharmony and safeguard the students' educational prospects," a statement by some concerned stakeholders read.

Thank you for reading through. I hope to bring you an update as the search for the principal continues. Before then, I invite @yakspeace, @dave-hanny, and @v-brainer to participate.