Staff and students of Academy of Christ The King in Cape Coast, the Central Region capital, may boycott classes on Monday over threats of death and harm on their lives.

According to the authorities of the school, encroachers of the school’s lands continuously go to the school with guns, machetes and other harmful implements to threaten them.

The situation, according to the school, is causing fear and panic among staff and students.

On Friday, the staff and students unanimously resolved in a  petition to the Central Regional Minister who is the head of the Regional Security Council to intervene.

According to them if the Minister, Kwamena Duncan, fails to assure the students’ safety, the school will be shut down to protect lives.

The Regional Minister upon receiving the petition assured he will look into the matter to bring a lasting solution to the disturbances.

Below is the petition by the school

On Wednesday, scores of unidentified men believed to be encroachers besieged Academy of Christ The King and destroyed a newly built wall of the school. They also caused the destruction of anything in sight and warned they would deal with anyone who crosses their path.

The unidentified men fumed, “the school did not pay for the land and thus has no basis to protect any land they claim they owned.” They threatened any staff and students they saw on the school premises.

The above incident, coupled with many others, has made the school unsafe for students and staff.

The school has for some years now been battling with encroachers over its lands and such battles have led to threats of harm and death on staff and students. Several attempts have been made by the Anglican Diocese of Cape Coast, The Board of Governors, the PTA and the school to find a lasting solution to the challenge which is affecting the smooth running of the school. The Regional Minister and the Metro Chief Executive, in conjunction with the police, have intervened on several occasions to call the encroachers to order but the interventions have not yielded results.

Recently, the encroachers scuttled the foundations of a government-awarded classroom block. The contractors nearly abandoned the project site because of the threats of harm and death on them.

Not only were the contractors threatened, students and members of staff were also threatened with machetes and other implements by the encroachers. This forced the students to demonstrate on the streets of Cape Coast.

These and many other attempts to injure students and staff are becoming one too many, making the academic environment unsafe.

On the basis of the above, the Teaching and Non-Teaching staff of the school have resolved in this petition to boycott classes beginning Monday if the matter concerning the land of the school, and the safety of staff and students are not addressed.

We are appealing to the Regional Minister, the Metro Chief Executive, The Regional Police Commander and the Regional and Metro Education Directors of Education to treat this matter with the urgency it deserves.