Final-Year Adisadel Student Jumps To Death

Sorrow and fear gripped the Adisadel College community in Cape Coast yesterday when a final-year Science student died after jumping from the fourth floor of the school's new classroom block. The boy, whose name was given as Mustapha Abdul, was said to have landed on his head in a gutter near the block and died almost immediately as his brains gushed out. According to one senior member of staff who pleaded anonymity, Mustapha was one of many students who had failed to attend the school's church service on the morning of 16 March and were hiding in the new classroom block. He said a senior housemaster, Mr Joseph Opare, went to lock up the classrooms in the block at about 7 am but the students, on seeing him, ran helter-skelter. Mustapha, the source said, who was on the fourth floor, jumped and died. He said soon after, Moslem students and some other students of the college, armed with sticks and stones, attacked and vandalised the house of another senior housemaster, Mr S. K Akator and two other teachers, Mr J. B. Maison and Mr C. Ayimful. They broke the glass doors of the bungalows of Mr Akator, and Mr Maison and attacked Mr Ayimful with stones. They also smashed the windscreen of Mr Opare's pick-up, which had been parked near the classroom where the incident occurred. The source said about 10 policemen had been deployed to the school to prevent further damage to property. When the Daily Graphic visited the school, there was an uneasy calm as students went about their normal duties. They, however, refused to talk about the issue. A few policemen were also seen patrolling the school. The source stressed the importance for all students to understand the school rules and regulations and obey them. The source said the parents of Mustapha had been informed about the incident. Meanwhile the body of the deceased has been deposited at the Central Regional Hospital morgue at Cape Coast.