OSHAKATI – A new form of ‘recreational drug’ discovered by school children, some as young as eight years-old, is causing havoc at schools in the vicinity of Oshakati, the situation forced teachers at one of the schools to call the police yesterday.
Oshana Police yesterday took in at least 32 learners from grades between three and seven at Oshakati Primary School for questioning and counselling at the request of the teachers.
Some of the learners were still ‘high’ on the substance by the name Cleaning Benzene, a cleaning detergent for metals. The learners bought it from a local supermarket.
Learners allegedly claimed to have sniffed the chemical because they wanted to be smart.
Apart from using the substance on school grounds, Oshakati Primary School learners also confessed that they inhale the substance on the streets with hundreds of their friends who are of similar age and also attend primary school at Onampila and Oshakati West.
Names of older learners at Iipumbu Senior Secondary School were also mentioned.
Learners and teachers at Oshakati Primary School were shocked when a group of learners at school started behaving in a mysterious manner in recent weeks. Some of the learners allegedly started giving teachers tough time with their strange behavior – which included making noise and provocative demeanour.
“Sometimes when you tell the learners to keep quiet they are always high and mostly looking for fight with other learners in class which was strange. You just do not know what is wrong with them,” a male teacher said.
The cause of this strange behavior came after a female learner became angry that her friends had sniffed up the entire stock the group had in its possession.
This caught the attention of a class captain who went to notify the teachers about the situation in the class.
When the Oshana Regional Commander, Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa visited the school yesterday, learners testified that they pour the Cleaning Benzene to their uniforms and let it dry before sniffing it.
While some pupil claim that this is a very smooth practice that makes them smart, some claim that they became insane and experienced headaches and nasal problems.
“When the teacher came in the class, it felt like he was making too much noise. In fact I wanted to tell him to stop because he was disturbing me,” said of the learners.
“After I sniffed it, I started feeling like I had flu but there was no mucus coming out of my nostrils while at the same time I had severe headaches” said another leaner.
The sniffing game has spread very fast at school because learners told the police that they have only started on Wednesday afternoon and by yesterday morning more than 30 learners in one school had already tested the newly discovered substance.
Kashihakumwa warned the learners about the danger of inhaling chemicals, saying it is dangerous and could ruin their lives. He took the learners to the station in order to educate them on the danger of drugs.