The Director however was not daunted in his efforts to stamp
out the group. He believed that one day; they would make a slip which would lead to their capture.
"Everyday is for the thief but one day is for the owner," he consoled himself.
While our indefatigable Director fought tooth and nail to sniff out the students behind the violence in our school, I did not relax. I called the members of the students Christian Movement
and told them of the need to go into serious fasting and prayers So that the miscreants would
be fished out. We did a seven day fasting and prayers, trusting God for an answer. After this,
we kept our fingers crossed, hoping that the culprits would be unmasked to put an end to this
horrible nightmare. A few days later, Mrs Joy Giwa, the Guidance Counselor, was attacked.
She was coming back from the village around 7pm on Sunday when she noticed that some
strange figures were trailing her. She increased the speed of her vehicle, trying to smother the
panic rising in her. Just as she thought she was clear of her assailants, some masked figures
blocked her way when she was about to take the route leading to the school. Visibly shaken, she
stopped her vehicle. In a rambo-like manner, the assailants whose faces she could not see yanked open the car doors, entered and ordered her to move. People were passing along that area but none of them suspected that Mrs Giwa was in
danger of any sort.
A few kilometers after the school gate, Mrs. Giwa was told to stop.

"NOW you are warned in your own interest to desist from stopping us from passing examination at all costs. Except you want to Join your ancestors before your time, then try to block us from having our way" one of the masked figures growled. They gave Mrs. Giwa somne blinding slaps and rough kicks.

"This is a taste of what will happen to you if you dare defy us," the masked figure warned
and in no distant time, all of them disappeared into the silent night, leaving Mrs. Giwa to writhe in pains.

The woman was taken home by some sympathizers who heard her calling for help. A few days later, a junior student reported that a masked figure had snatched the school fees he
was bringing to the bursar. The Director and the teachers and we, the prefects, were having sleepless nights because tracing
miscreants appeared to be mission impossible.
However elusive and slippery the undesirable elements seemed to be, we kept on our survellance and intelligence mission by keeping our eyes open and our ears to the ground. The members of the Students' Christian Movement (SCM) continued their fervent prayers and I joined them most of the time.

The spate of crime committed by the miscreants continued unabated. In the hostels students would come back from classes only to find their leather boxes slashed open and their
money stolen. Some times the keys to their lockers would be broken and their provisions Would be made away with.

The members of the ORD and the prefects continued their surveillance in addition to intense
prayers. One day Sir Robinson who was on night duty was on patrol when he caught three boys smoking Indian hemp at the back of the chemistry laboratory. That was how the mystery behind the miscreants was unraveled. The boys whose names were Andrew Earl, Jimmy Lester and Wilson Rick were severely tortured. They confessed to all their crimes. They named all the perpetrators of the attack and they were all
arrested and put in cell. A few days later, all the miscreants were paraded before the members of the P.T.A where their shocked parents looked at them with shame and embarrassment. The director narrated their evil deeds and they hung their heads with shame.

The Director pleaded with the parents to help them in the onerous task of training their
children by giving them a Sound moral upbringing before sending them to school.
Later the miscreants were expelled so as not to corrupt other students. After this stringent measure, many students were deterred from forming such groups.

However, after some time some diehard senior students started showing Signs of restiveness. They became very unruly, stubborn and disobedient to the school authorities. They
called themselves current, Civilised and happening guys while they referred to those that
were serious with their studies as "jew" guys, village boys, local elements etc. They started
holding clandestine meetings and their activities were cleverly concealed from public gaze.

The Director was poised to effectively stamp out cultism so he gave the members of ORD more powers with which to operate.

One day during our promotional exams, I was preparing for my first paper and was searching for a conducive corner for revision, when I heard a voice shouting my name with
urgency, Thomas!" rang the voice and I looked and it was one of the ORD members, Sir Robinson. I went to him and he took me to the Chemistry
Laboratory. I knew he wanted to ask me some questions but I could not figure out exactly what
it was though I had an idea it must. be about students' discipline.

"Do you know what happened to the last set of senior students before you?" he asked.

"Yes, Sir", I answered.
"Don't ever let your set be like that", he advised and continued. "I know I met the set of Alan, then Senior Prefect, when I came to this school newly. That set wasn't alright but
Alan was picked for being good and was reward alright. They didn't have any problem at all. And then this last set of Sam was not only bad but their leader also had a problem. He was influenced by his classmates. That is why you are warned to be very careful because if you ever
follow his footsteps, you'll have yourself to blame. Don't be like him".

"Yes, Sir, I said
"I can see that your people are trying to push you to the way of Sam".