By Agboola Bayo
Ibadan
Eight secondary school students in Oyo state are now in the custody of the State Social Development Centre, Samonda undergoing counselling as the state government orders total clampdown on truancy in all its public schools.
The students were arrested by the state’s enforcement team led by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Community Relations, Alhaji Abidemi Siyanbade for roaming the streets during school hours.
It was gathered that the students arrested by the team comprised of students of Methodist Grammar School, Bodija; Bishop Onabanjo Memorial Grammar School, Bodija and St. Luke Grammar School, Molete and were taken to the Oyo State Social Development Centre, Samonda for counselling.
According to the leader of the enforcement team, Alhaji Siyanbade the parents and principals of the arrested students would have to come for them at the Social Development Centre in Samonda, to secure their release.
Siyanbade stressed that the clampdown was in line with the directive of Governor Abiola Ajimobi, who he said has ordered total clampdown on truancy in schools across the state.
Emphasizing that the present administration in the was against students roaming the street during school hours, Siyanbade declared that the exercise would be a regular one.
“Just last June, the state government came up with an initiative targeted at repositioning the education sector of the state. This initiative evolved the newly inaugurated School Governing Board (SGB) across the 628 secondary schools in state.
“Imagine the students being tagged ‘Olu-Igbo’ because they are always in the bush when others are in class. You can see that the communities support the efforts of the government and I can assure them that we will achieve greater successes from the exercise”.
