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…Students were accompanied by elderly ones to protect them in Mbaise – Eyewitness

By Chinonso Alozie, Owerri

The Imo State branch of the National Association of Private Proprietors of Schools, NAPPS, said it has not received an official report from its members that students did not take the National Examination Council, NECO, Mathematics Exams, in the State.

The State Chairman, Joe Mbakwe, disclosed this to Vanguard in Owerri on Wednesday, while reacting to the report that students did not write NECO Exams in Imo, due to the sit-at-home order declared by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, last Monday.

He said so far the members of, NAPPS, who he had contacted told him that NECO Examinations were held in their various areas.

He said: “On that day I was even afraid that the Exams will not hold. That morning you know people were afraid to talk to come out, but around that time of 10:30 am, people started moving about.

“I called my Chairmen in the different local government areas, I asked them what was going on in their area they told me that the NECO Exams was going on even my own students took the Exams.

“But what we plan to do is to have an executive meeting where we will set a team to reach out to other of our members to know if there were any schools that did not write the Exams.”

“I want to tell you, for now, there is no official report from anybody that NECO, Exams did not take in their area or their students did not write the Exams. Like I told you we will reachout to our members to know the situation. But for now, no official report of students not writing NECO Exams,” NAPP said.

However, Investigations by Vanguard revealed last Monday that, Sit-at-home IPOB, affected largely the time fixed for the Exams.

Mostly affected were areas such as Orlu and the three Local Government Areas of Aboh, Ahiazu and Ezinihitte Mbaise. It was gathered that students arrived at the hall of the exams very late.

An eyewitness who spoke to Vanguard said: “By 12:45 pm, we saw students trekking to schools in Orlu Local Government Area, some of them who were lucky were seen helped to school by private car owners. It was around 2:30 pm, some motorcycle riders were seen plying in the Orlu main town doing their business.”

Also, another resident from Aboh Mbaise who pleaded not to mention his name said: “Students were seen going to school to take their NECO Exams but the problem was when we heard about burning of buses and killings along Nkwogwo in Aboh Mbaise, most of the students were asked to go back to their houses until after around 1:56 pm, some parents now allowed their children to go to school for the Exams, and even were accompanied by elderly ones to protect them.”

Vanguard News Nigeria