Niger Suspends School Principals for Collecting Illegal Dues

Laleye Dipo in Minna

The principal of a female senior secondary school in Minna, Niger State, and four of her vice principals have been suspended indefinitely over the ‘illegal’ collection of levies from students.

It was learnt that the school heads (names withheld) have been allegedly illegally collecting N3, 000 per term from each student over the years.

The levy, according to findings, was different from what the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) of the institution approved.

It was gathered that the bubble burst recently when one of the students demanded the money from her parents, who claimed he did not have such money to pay to the school since the government is implementing a free-education policy.The parent was said to have raised the alarm to the state Ministry of Education which denied approving the collection of such levy.

Following the discovery, the ministry was reported to have carried out immediate investigation which confirmed the illegal collection

As a result of that, the state Commissioner for Education, Hajia Hannatu Jibrin Salihu, ordered the immediate suspension from offices of the principal and her four vice principals of the school.

The Information Officer in the Ministry, Jibrin Usman Kodo, confirmed the development to THISDAY yesterday, saying a committee headed by the chairperson of the State Secondary Schools Board has been set up to investigate the matter.

Kodo said a very senior staff of the institution has been directed to take over the management of the school.

He, however, said he did not know for how long the committee would sit before submitting its report.