It was a rainy day on October 4th when tragedy struck at Community Secondary School, Okoroagu, in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State, when a section of the school’s roof collapsed on 14-year-old Fabian Chinda during class.
The incident, which left the Junior Secondary student bleeding from the head, has now become a painful symbol of the decaying state of public school infrastructure in Rivers State.
A visit to the school by Nigeria Info FM revealed shocking conditions: classrooms without roofs, windows, or doors; teachers sharing benches under trees; and students learning in open, leaking rooms where rain and sunlight pour freely.
The Senior Secondary section is especially unsafe, with large parts of its roof already caved in.
Fabian recalls that fateful day with fear and pain: “I was in the class, so rain was falling. The class was so open that I was learning. The teacher now went out of class because there was nowhere he could stay.
"So, we were now in the class, and there is a part of the zinc (roof) that is not open. Before you know, what l heard was a big heavy sound. l thought it hit the desk.
"Before you know it, it was on my head so I looked at my hand, blood was now rushing on my body. I now ran to the principal's office. There was no first aid in the school. So they had to plug the native independent leaf and put it on my head. It was still giving me problems in my head.”
Since then, Fabian says he no longer feels safe in school: “We just stay in one place, one corner, all of us gather in one place. It even hit some of our students on the back.
"Sometimes, if l go to the school, l will still be looking for the place that has already fallen down, so l can stay in that area so that it will not fall again and injure me. Sometimes I stay outside to learn.”
For his mother, Mrs. Prisca Chinda, life after the incident has been filled with fear and worry. She says Fabian’s health has not fully recovered, and the emotional trauma still lingers.
“At times, he feels shock and unconscious, complains of eyes turning him and his neck dragging him because the skull opened," she said.
"He stays at home with the fear of the roof falling. So at times when he is sleeping, midnight he will just wake up screaming, ‘my head, my head,’ because no adequate treatment was taken. We went to the hospital then, and the bills—we spent a lot of money, which broke me down.”
Mrs. Chinda says she has received no help from the government since the incident and is pleading for immediate renovation of the school.
“I need a good education for my child, because the environment of learning is not conducive for the kids. We have an appetite for going to school because there is nothing greater than education.
"So, I want the place to be renovated so that it will be conducive for my child to school there and write his WAEC. It is just a year remaining for him and I need your assistance because at least it will aid me to take care of him.”
A psychologist, Dr. Iberedem David, described Fabian’s reaction as an Acute Stress Reaction, explaining that he is showing signs of trauma following the near-death experience.
“They could begin to have some experiences such as waking up in the middle of the night, shouting, and beginning to have nightmares and anxiety," said Dr. David.
"So, he could just be brought in to see a clinical psychologist, mostly behavioral therapy, to help him overcome some of those anxiety issues that have come up because of the trauma. He will not necessarily be on medication at this time, and then we watch him, hoping it does not progress to PTSD.”
Dilapidated Public Schools
But Fabian’s story is just one among many across public schools in Rivers State. In the Junior Secondary section of the same school, teachers were seen sitting under an almond tree because there were no chairs in the staff room.
Students were found sitting on the floor or sharing desks. There are no toilets or clean water sources, leaving both staff and students exposed to unsafe conditions.
The Community Development Chairman of Okoroagu, Elvis Onyesoh Nwabasi, says he has repeatedly written to the state government and oil companies operating in the area, with no response. “Several times it's not once, l have been crying, telling them please, Okoroagu community, we are part of Rivers State and we are one of the oil-producing communities.
"Look at where the students are learning, they are not safe, not even the staff. So, I want the Rivers State Government to come and carry out proper renovation and proper jobs so that students can stay and learn.”
The Paramount Ruler of Umuchogu Community, Eze Suleiman Elemuwa, described the situation as neglect of a community that has long been abandoned.
“That school, despite all appeals, everything has fallen on deaf ears. We had a near-fatal situation. Virtually everything there was done by the community effort but they choose to marginalize this community.
"We know the present government in Rivers State, headed by His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara, is a very compassionate government. We appeal more passionately to him to come to our rescue. We don't have any politician who will help us; he is the only hope we have.”
As of the time of this report, the Rivers State Ministry of Education has not commented on the incident. In 2024, Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, assured the people of the state that his administration would transform the educational system to ensure that parents bring back their children and wards from private to public schools.
Governor Fubara said his administration plans to give public schools a facelift, both in terms of infrastructure and content development. “We are going to transform the school system in Rivers State," he said.
"The school supervision is also going to be made stronger. Many people are forced to take their children to private schools. We will make our schools models whereby there will be an osmotic movement from the private schools back to the public schools.
“Many people, the minimum wage is not enough for them, because they have to pay for private schools’ fees. But when we rebuild government schools in terms of infrastructure, and more importantly, the content, people will come back from the private schools.
“When that happens, parents will have less to pay, the cost of living will become lower, and the standard of living will become higher and a better economy for us”, he noted.
There are 2,095 public schools in Rivers State, based on data from the Rivers State Ministry of Education and RIVEMIS. This number includes both junior and senior secondary schools.
The October 4th roof collapse at Community Secondary School, Okoroagu, is not just an isolated accident; it’s a reflection of a broken system where children risk their lives daily to learn. Until something changes, students like Fabian will continue to study under danger, hoping their classroom roof doesn’t come down again.
