From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
The National Association of Private Schools (NAPS) in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State has debunked claims that students and pupils were being initiated into cultism through a process called snake bite in schools within the locality.
The association said what was being misconstrued as an initiation process was a mere child’s play that involved the engraving of mark on the hand of a child with the use of piece of paper.
A trending video by a right activist had recorded the process called snake bite among pupils of a private school in Asaba.
The development caused commotion in schools in the locality, with some parents forcefully withdrawing their children from schools for fear of being initiated.
But addressing journalists on Monday, chairman of NAPS in the locality, Mr. Samson Ekene, urged parents to disregard the video, insisting that it was a false information targeted at bringing disrepute to schools.
Flanked by other executive members of the association, Ekene said the video has already caused a lot of damages to the school system, and appealed to the originator to pull it down from the social media space.
“We are telling parents and guardians that the so called snake bite has nothing to do with cult initiation process. NAPS condemns such information, parents should disregard it, and see it as a false information, take their children back to school.
“Back in my days in school, there was something we were doing use cashew to grate mark on the hand, but I cannot remember having bad dreams since then till now.
“There is also the chewing gum cartoon. Children play with the things around them, we must make it clear that the so called snake bite is done with pen and paper and that is what is common in schools.
“The mark is being engraved with paper, and it is just a child’s play. I call on parents to disregard the video,” he said.
He said the originator of the video invaded the school without permission from the regulatory government agency, adding that private schools would no longer tolerated such invasion by unauthorized persons.