Borno Government on Thursday said it had reopened primary schools it shut following confusion on rumour of immunization against monkey pox disease because all was now calm.
The state’s Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Inuwa Kubo,
made this known at a news conference in Maiduguri.
Pandemonium erupted in schools when stories circulated in
Maiduguri, alleging that pupils would be immunized with contaminated monkey pox
vaccine.
The rumour peddled widely in the metropolis and parents
rushed to evacuate their children from schools.
In the ensuing scuffle, teachers at Sanda Kyarimi, Gwange I
and III primary schools locked their gates behind desperate parents, who forced
the gate open to free their wards.
Hundreds of pupils, who found their way out in the affected schools,
were seen crying; while some parents muzzled as they could not locate their
children amid the confusion.
The education commission said “no responsible government
would allow anybody to go into schools to conduct inoculation without its
consent.”
Kubo, who described the incident as unfortunate, said
parents should understand that it was the responsibility of government to
protect their children and wards against any danger.
He added that “even if there was problem, parents do not
have the right to storm schools to withdraw their children. It was very
unfortunate that some mischievous individuals were using schools to cause
havoc.
“Schools in Borno were shut for a very long time; we
reopened not long ago; it was sad that some individuals were working to reverse
our successes.”
Dr. Sule Mele, the Executive Director of Borno Primary
Health Care Development Agency, said people should disregard the rumour
“because there is no iota of truth in it.”
Mele, also the Head of Coordination on Immunization in
Borno, said the only vaccination going on was that of oral polio.
He said the agency was working with traditional rulers to
launch another polio campaign in November. (NAN)
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