By Edward Cobham, Calabar

 Teaching and none teacher staff of the Federal Government Girls’ College, FGC have protested the maltreatment meted to their colleagues by the operatives of Directorate of Staff Security Services (DSS). The protesters numbering over hundred accompanied by Chairman for Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Cross River State Comr. Clarkson Otu said that the protest became necessary so as to get justice to ensure that perpetrators of the act would be brought to book.

 Aggrieved teachers and others who stormed the Cross River State House of Assembly with placards with various inscriptions such as  "We need justice, perpetrators must be brought to book” DSS hoodlums must be brought to book” said "We came here to register our grievances so that those DSS found wanting can be brought to book. We need justice, perpetrators must be brought to book. DSS hoodlums must be brought to book”

 The TUC chairman also added: "We need justice and no delay, DSS shouls stop using teachers as a bait, teachers are agent of development, We are not terrorist, stop the use of force and despicable show of force on us” Reacting, the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly Hon. John Gaul Lebo who was represented by the Clark of the Assembly, Elder. Ekpeyong Bassey said he will pass the message to the speaker. "We will certainly do justice to the issue and ensure that only justice is done”

 It would be recalled that DSS man-handled the teachers of the FGGC recently for flogging a student whose mother is an operative of the service. The student, in a senior secondary class was said to have ordered some junior students to sweep her class, an act that did not go down well with a teacher, Mr. Owai Owai, who decided to punish the entire senior students of the class for flouting his instructions not to force junior students to sweep their class.

 Mr. Owai, the Civic Education Teacher, said: “One of the students, grabbed the collar of my shirt, which prompted me to flog her more But she went outside and made a phone call to her mother, who is said to be a DSS official. I was in the SS 2 class, teaching, when a woman and a man walked in, wrestled the cane I was holding from me and began to flog me in front of the students. When some of my colleagues rushed to rescue me, they were also attacked”

 The teacher added that as soon as he could, he ran into his office for refuge from where he observed the woman making several phone calls and another group of DSS came and invaded the school and beat the teachers the more. “They came in three vans then drove into the school compound from which some men jumped out and started shouting ‘where is the teacher’.

 “The woman, who did not know I had escaped, mistakenly pointed at another teacher, Mr. Ndarake, and they went after him. One of them brought out a rifle, pointed it at Ndarake, while another shouted ‘shoot him’. But the man with the rifle fired into the air, grabbed Ndarake and tried to force him into one of the vans. Ndarake resisted. He wrestled him to the ground and began using the butt of his rifle on his head and neck”

 Another teacher, Mr. Mbeson Emmanuel, (the Fine Arts teacher) said some of the men that invaded their school shot sporadically into the air, while the pandemonium lasted and any teacher who tried to take pictures was attacked and his or her phone seized. Emmanuel said: “Over six of us were attacked for trying to take pictures of the incident and I had my phone and binoculars.  Mrs Anne Agba, had her phone and N80, 000, which was in her handbag confiscated. She was severely manhandled“

 He said the security man, James Asuquo, who locked the gate to stop the invaders’ vans from leaving the school was hit several times on the head and neck with the butt of a rifle, causing him to bleed profusely. According to Emmanuel, “Asuquo has been taken to the hospital because he was hit on the head and neck with the butt of a rifle for locking the gate to stop the vans from leaving the school premises. The men shot open the lock on the gate and drove out”

 DSS Director in the state, Mr. Fubara Duke said that the incident was a case of mistaken identity, explaining that on Wednesday some hoodlums went to the school to beat up a teacher who flogged one of the students, but did not see the teacher, so they returned yesterday morning. Duke added that when the teachers saw the DSS operative, they thought she was one of the hoodlums and pounced on her, beat her up and tore her clothes.

  Duke said: “There were no gunshots and my men only went there on the invitation of the school authorities and the teachers mistook my personnel for hoodlums. They went there to sort out an issue, where the DSS operative’s daughter was beaten by a teacher, leaving her body with lacerations. “But she was mistaken for one of the hoodlums, who went there to beat up a teacher on Wednesday” He said he has asked the school administration to fish out the teachers who attacked the DSS lady to face the appropriate punishment.