General News of Thursday, 9 August 2012

Source: Daily Guide

SHS Students Grabbed For Occultism

Seven students of the Adidome Senior High School in the Volta Region have been suspended indefinitely for practising occultism in school.

The headmaster of the school, Elias Avor, confirmed this to DAILY GUIDE.

An occult grandmaster at the school disclosed that occultism in senior high schools across the country was real and prevalent.

The occultist, who is a first-year student of the Adidome SHS, made the revelation in a confession after the seven students were busted at their meeting ground.

According to the student, he was initiated by one Mallam in Laterbiokoshie-Zongo, a suburb of Accra, along with 15 others before being admitted to the school.

He noted that the 16 of them were part of other occult groups scattered across senior high schools and tertiary institutions in the country.

He said they were scattered in schools in the Eastern, Greater Accra and the Volta regions while other groups could be found in other institutions.

According to DAILY GUIDE sources in the school, the grandmaster was part of seven students who were busted by the Chaplain, Rev. Dzata, last Tuesday, July 31, 2012, around 6pm.

Apparently, they were meeting behind the administration block while their mates were having supper at the dining hall.

The meeting was part of an initiation process which had started earlier that week.

He said the seven were in all black except two who were in white and orange. Out of the seven, three second-year students were being initiated while four were old members.

The leader of the four was a first-year student, the grandmaster. The remaining three were a third-year student and two second-year students who held various positions.

Since the school was vacating on Friday, August 3, 2012, the seven were on Wednesday, August 1, 2012, put before the disciplinary committee of the school where they confessed.

They were then suspended indefinitely while their parents were immediately contacted on Thursday, July 2.

The grandmaster is reported to have revealed that since his initiation, he had engaged in a lot of spiritual exploits, including spiritual trips to South Africa, with his compatriots in other schools.

He added that during evening preps, his friends visited him spiritually and engaged in meetings and other conversations.

The three who were being initiated noted that they accepted to join due to fear and some spiritual experiences such as hearing of voices and experiencing nightmares.

They noted that they were convinced that if they became part of the group, they would be well protected, physically and spiritually.

As part of the process, fresh eggs were buried in front of the dining hall and behind the ICT lab.

However, when the group took the disciplinary committee members to the spots, the eggs could not be found, despite a thorough search.

The sources noted that when the news broke in the school, some teachers and students were gripped with fear, while others hooted at the group.

When Mr Avor was contacted, he confirmed the incident but refused to give further details.

He revealed that since it involved young children, the incident had to be handled cautiously; hence the parents had been contacted.

He added that most of them had replied, with some appealing on their wards’ behalf.

Mr. Avor noted that the board of the school would meet on the issue and also with the affected parents to give its final decision.