By: Problyn J. Alpha
As part of their mandates to protect lives and property and to prevent violence from happening in the country, the Local Unit Commander of the Waterloo Police Division in the Western Rural District of Freetown, superintendent of police Ibrahim M. Sama has organized a day engagement with more than on hundred heads of school in his operational areas in order to maintain peace and quietness in the aforementioned district and the country as a whole.
The engagement which took place at the conference hall of the Waterloo Police Division in the Western Rural District of Freetown brought together principals and school administrators of all the secondary schools in waterloo community and its immediate environs.
The said engagement with the school authorities came awake of the consistent occurrences of violence among school children in the ongoing sporting activities which often disturb the peace of many in the district. It could be recalled that, the police at the aforesaid division have arrested and sent to court at least twenty two (22) pupils of the peninsular secondary school for riotous and disorderly behavior who were founded guilty and find to pay the sum of eight hundred Leone NLE or sentence to at list three months imprisonment.
In an interview with A-Z Newspaper, ASP Alie Jalloh who is the media officer of the waterloo police division noted that the essence of the engagement with the school authorities was to strategize and find ways to mitigate violence among pupils. He added that the heads of the schools lauded LUC Sama for what they described as a novelty in the history of policing at the waterloo division in engaging school authorities in such meeting to find solution to the perennial lawlessness in their schools.
He further appealed to the said heads of the school to create a platform in their schools to orientate their pupils on the dos and don’ts in the schools. He also suggested for the school authorities to be constantly educating their pupils on the negative effects of violence and the importance of a peaceful society. ASP Jalloh also admonished the teachers to start doing what he called on the sport visit to classes searching for unwanted materials and effect disciplinary actions on any one that will be founded with any kind of things of police interest.
‘’ If we do all our peaceful strategies and do not work, then the law has to take it cause. And if any pupil gets himself or herself involve in criminality, lawlessness or violence that braches the peace of the society, they will face punitive actions. We will ensure that the pupils face the full penalty of the law, because if you are a school going child you must behave as one”, ASP Jalloh advised.
On behalf of the heads of school present, the principal of peninsular senior secondary school Alfred Turay, assured LUC Sama and the team of cascading the peaceful and nonviolence message gained to their pupils.