There have been conflicting accounts about what led to the death of a student of the Bolgatanga Senior High School.
Earlier today, students of the school rioted because of the death of their fellow student, which they blamed on a senior house master, Thomas Apana. But he has strongly denied the allegation describing it as “a big lie”.
The students had claimed their colleague was allegedly chased down by the senior house master, and in the process fell down and hit his head.
He died soon after arriving at the hospital.
Some students who spoke to Joy News’ correspondent in the region accused the teacher of preventing them from helping the deceased even after he fell.
GOD IS MY WITNESS
But Thomas Apana, who has been discounting the claims, told Joy News he is “surprised”, accusing the students of framing him up.
“The truth will surely come out, I leave the challenge to God because I know my hands are clean…when it even happened I wasn’t there…God is my witness,” he asserted.
Narrating his side of the story, the senior house master said it is a rule in the school that dormitories are locked at 6 am for the morning assembly to commence at 6:30.
However, as at 6:20 one of the dormitories was not locked; clearly the students were not prepared for the morning service, he recounted asking the house prefect to lock it as the school’s rule states.
EPILEPSY
He claimed he was there when he saw the students gathered at one end of the block so he moved to the scene and saw the boy on the floor twitching as thugh in an epileptic seizure, so he asked whether the boy had any history of epilepsy.
According to Thomas Apana, one of the students said the boy once fell in a dormitory.
Mr. Apana says he avised the students that “If that is the case, they should not crowd around him like that. He needs air, and so they should move and put a mattress to protect the head”
He added that the students obliged his request and that the house prefect, was asked to call the person in charge of the dispensary to attend to the boy.
He was rushed to the hospital but he “unfortunately died”, he recalled.
Thomas Apana reported that he, together with the headmaster of the school, reported the incident to the police.
According to him, one student said the deceased had been complaining of sickness and was advised to go home but he refused. He said he even reprimanded them for not reporting his situation to school authorities.
THEY WOULD NOT LIKE YOU
He suspected the students lied about the situation because they detested him as a disciplinarian, stressing, “Definitely they would not like you because they wouldn’t get the chance to do what they want and that is what surprised me.”
Thomas Apana has therefore insisted that the students’ account “was a big lie”.
MOCK EXAM
The crisis caused a riot, forcing school authorities to cancel a mock exam scheduled earlier today.
Calm has returned to the school after a meeting between the students and school authorities, Upper East Region correspondent Albert Sore has said.
Security at the school has also been beefed up to prevent any further crisis.
The police are currently investigating the fatal incident, ASP Thomas Agbanyo Upper East Police PRO told Joy News they are waiting for the autopsy report to ascertain the actual cause of the boy’s death.
