They also complained that the management demanded that they pay N7,500 for mattress cover already donated by the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC) to the school.
By Staff Reporter
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Published on September 30, 2026
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3 min read
The management and Parents Teachers Association (PTA) of the Federal Government College, Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom state have been accused of imposing unauthorized levies and charges on parents.
Some of the parents told our correspondent that they were being compelled to pay for various items including school uniforms which they had already paid to the FG through Remita Retrieval Reference ( RRR) at designated banks.
They also complained that the management demanded that they pay N7,500 for mattress cover already donated by the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC) to the school.
The parents appealed to the Minister of Education Dr Tunji Alausa to launch a probe into the matter and rescue them from them from extortion and multiple charges.
According to one of the parents, Nsikak Ikong, “one of the items in the RRR was N25,000 for uniforms and we all obliged. We were instructed to arm ourselves with bank tellers to be changed to official receipts before checking our wards into the hostel.
“But we were surprised when the school management instructed that we should pay another N20,000 with the threat to return students who have not complied back home”.
“A breakdown of the amount showed that parents must cough out N7,500 for mattress cover and N12,500 for uniforms, totalling N20,000, before they check in
“If they extort N20,000 from 600 students in SS1, it amounts to N12,000,000 from one class alone. They would also extort from new intakes in JS1 as they would be received on 4th October. This is not acceptable!
“We queried such payments and argued that it has already been paid as one of the items in the RRR payment to the bank. The PTA representatives argued that it must be paid
“We discovered that N7,500, was charged for bed cover on mattress donated by NDDC by Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to students and delivered during the holiday
“Instead of the school management to release the mattress to students on resumption, they extorted N7,500 from parents in the guise of bed cover before it was issued to students. They also extorted N12,500 as charges before uniforms were released to students ”
Another parent Chinedu Ike, who spoke with our correspondent, expressed disappointment by the PTA and college management for conspiracy to extort money from parents.
The principal of the college Mr Emmanuel Didi explained that parents should be happy because he has reduced the amount from N25,000 to N20,000 for all parents to pay for their children uniforms and mastress cover .
“Initially, we planned to collect N25,000 from female students but because of the outcry, we just asked both boys and girls to pay N20,000,”he said.
