The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission has arrested the education secretary, school headmaster, and three others over the alleged dismantling and illegal sale of school furniture and metals at a primary school in the Kumbotso Local Government Area.
The suspects, who were arrested on Saturday, were caught in the act on the school premises.
The Senior Special Reporter to the Kano State Governor on Anti-Corruption, Mallam Sani Umar Sani, who confirmed the arrest to our correspondent on Sunday, said some residents, who were conducting physical exercise early on Saturday, observed some movements and noise at the Gaidar Makada Special Primary School, Kumbotso Local Government Area.
On a closer examination, he said they discovered that the school furniture had been dismantled and the metals assembled and carted away.
“One of the residents, who is a neighbour of the school, said that early on Saturday, he saw a man with some young boys heading towards the classrooms of the school but were accosted by the security guard and after a little explanation was allowed into the classrooms”, Sani disclosed to newsmen.
“Thereafter, the resident said there was heavy noise from the classrooms, which informed his decision to take a closer look, only to discover that they were not only dismantling the school furniture but also assembling the metals.
“He subsequently informed the School Based Management Committee Chairman, Mallam AbdulGafar Sanusi Garba, who said he was not aware of the action, while the Parent Teachers Association Chairman, Mallam Alkassim Muhammad, was also well notified.
According to them, they were not in the picture as the school headmaster had sacked them before the expiration of their tenure.
They said the local government education secretary was notified of their unilateral removal by the headmaster, as they were appointed by the community.
“The education secretary, when we contacted him, promised to look into the issue but we never heard anything from him.
“With the development we observed this morning, we asked them why they were dismantling the school benches and other furniture, they said the items would be sold to people who are ready to buy them on the instruction of the school authority.
“We promptly videoed the items and notified the state anti-corruption agency.’’
A source close to the commission, who declined his name on print, said among those arrested included one of the merchants, who bought metals and iron rods from the furniture.
Furthermore, we have learnt that the dismantled furniture, valued at over N2m was sold by the suspects for N250,000.
Also, it was gathered that the anti-graft agency had launched an investigation into the unfolding development, as those arrested were already in its custody.
Also, a credible source at the commission informed our correspondent that this might be the reason for the dismantling of the furniture in most of the primary schools in the state for the metals and irons to be illegally sold.
The source further hinted that the agency was already working on the development of software that would take an inventory of equipment in schools across the state and notify it if any of them are tempered.
