Schools suspend classes as flood ravages Uyo

Schools in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, called off classes as flood was said to have reached window level on Thursday.

Some pupils, who were seen at the Methodist Primary School, Itiam Etoi, along Oron Road, told our correspondent that two teachers asked them to return home because of flood.

The pupils added that their classrooms were not conducive as water had been dripping through the open roofs, which damaged their books and uniforms.

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A Primary Six pupil, Emmanuel Inyang, told our correspondent that apart from the flood, the school was not safe.

He said hoodlums usually slept in their classes and stole crops from the school’s farms.

He said, “This is our third term. Now that rain has started, we are going to miss classes.

“If you have come earlier, you would have seen that the level of the flood was more than this.”

A teacher, Mrs. Eno Ediwok, who was unable to get to the school because of the flood, told our correspondent that other teachers, who managed to gain access to the school, were asked to send the pupils home.

According to her, it is not possible for the school to be on session as flood sweeps through the classes.

A resident, Mrs. Ante Edet, whose daughter is a pupil of the school, told our correspondent that the hoodlums often harassed young ladies, who passed through the school premises, in the evening.

She said reports of the incidents had been lodged with policemen, who allegedly did not do anything to stem the crime.

At St. Patrick’s School, Iboko, in the Ukana Offot area of the state, only a few teachers were seen in the school. There was no pupil there.

A teacher, who did not want her identity disclosed, told our correspondent that it would be unwise for them to risk the lives of any child for anything.

She stated that the flood went beyond the window level. She added that upon seeing the trend, they had to send all the pupils that had come to the school away.

According to her, a chief in the community came to the school to verify what had happened before the pupils were sent home.

Meanwhile in Asaba, Delta State, flood on Thursday allegedly killed a pregnant woman and three teenagers after a heavy rainfall that left residents of DLA Road, Asaba, stranded.

It was gathered that the victims fell into some drainage channels that were covered with rain water and drowned.

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Celestina Kalu, said the victims, identified as Rosemary Iyamah, Paul Nwanibi, Celestine Chigozie and Emeka Nwaru, were later evacuated to the Federal Medical Centre mortuary, Asaba.

He said they drowned after being swept into the drainage channels, where they gulped some water.

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