Missing kids: Abia schools introduce new measures, warn parents

Following the disappearance of four pupils on their way to school in Umuahia, Abia State, some schools in Umuahia and Aba have sent extra advisory messages to parents whose children are studying in their institutions.

Findings by newsmen showed that some schools in Umuahia and Aba have made it mandatory for parents/guardians to physically bring their children to schools, directly hand them over to school authorities, as well as sign their signatures attesting that their kids were brought to school.

They are also expected to do the same before taking the children even if their private residence is a stone’s throw from the schools.

Apart from these, the schools have advised parents who have no cars, to ensure that they rode in the same hired vehicles to their children’s schools and not to place maximum trust on public transporters.

Newsmen learnt that a private school at Amuzukwu and Low Cost Housing Estate in Umuahia North LGA and another one at Umungasi, Aba, have sent messages to parents, warning them against every form of carelessness.

They cautioned that the school would not be held accountable in the case of any identified security lapses caused by parents.

It could be recalled that the four missing children of the same parents, Mmesomachi, Chinweotito, Testimony and Godswill were taken to an unknown destination by an unidentified tricycle rider engaged by their mother, Mrs Oluchi Chimobi Agha.