The National Examinations Council (NECO) has rejected claims that Government Secondary School, Olowa, in Dekina LGA of Kogi state, where five persons were abducted during the ongoing Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), is a “miracle centre”.
BACKGROUND
On Tuesday, Gunmen abducted students from the school around
5:25pm while candidates were writing the ongoing NECO examinations.
The principal of the school and a NECO ad hoc staff were
also kidnapped during the incident.
Speaking to journalists on the incident, Godiya Solomon
Monde, commanding officer, 21 battalion, Nigerian Army, alleged that the school
was a hub for examination malpractice, popularly referred to as “miracle
centre”.
“The issue is that this school is definitely isolated as you
can see; it’s actually tagged as a miracle centre for the students. Ten
students were brought here for the literature,-in-English exams, and around
16:00 hours we got the call that the school was attacked,” Monde said.
“Even to locate the school was not easy, but we finally got
here with the aid of somebody from the community. When we got here, we saw some
papers littered on the ground.”
On Thursday, the Kogi state government said the four persons
kidnapped during the recent attack on an “unauthorised” examination centre in
Olowa were rescued.
Kingsley Fanwo, commissioner for information and
communications, said that the rescue followed a coordinated security operation
ordered by Ahmed Ododo, governor of Kogi.
‘THE SCHOOL HAS EXISTED FOR 40 YEARS’
Responding to the allegation in a statement on Friday, Azeez
Sani, NECO’s acting director of information and public relations, said the
council disagreed with comments attributed to Fanwo describing the school as a
“miracle centre”.
Sani expressed sympathy for the victims and commended the
Kogi state government and security agencies for efforts that led to the rescue
of the remaining four abductees.
He said Government Secondary School, Olowa, is a state-owned
institution that has existed for more than 40 years and has presented
candidates for the NECO SSCE since 2000.
“Furthermore, the principal of the school, Daniel Iyamaa,
who was among those abducted, is a Grade Level 17 officer in the Kogi state
civil service,” the statement reads.
“Similarly, the kidnapped supervisor, Solomon Audu, is a
Grade Level 12 officer employed by the Kogi state government and posted to
Community Secondary School, Effin.
“Available records also show that the abducted candidates
are duly registered students of Government Secondary School, Olowa, who were
presented for the 2026 NECO SSCE by the school in conjunction with the Kogi
state government.”
The council also said the 28 candidates registered by the
school for the 2026 SSCE are bona fide students and not external candidates,
contrary to the impression created by the commissioner’s remarks.
NECO said the school’s SSCE enrolment stood at 21 candidates
in 2021, 20 in 2022, 28 in 2023, 40 in 2024, 20 in 2025 and 28 in 2026.
The examination body added that the state government also
paid examination fees for 51 candidates of the school in the 2026 West African
Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The council further disclosed that before the commencement
of the 2026 SSCE, its Kogi state coordinator had written to security agencies
seeking support to ensure the smooth conduct of the examination following an
earlier attack on Government Secondary School, Iluke, in Ijumu LGA during the
2026 WASSCE.
NECO reiterated its zero-tolerance policy on examination
malpractice, saying reforms introduced under Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi, its
registrar and chief executive, have significantly reduced reported malpractice
cases over the past five years.
The council urged public officials and stakeholders to
verify information before making public statements capable of undermining the
reputation of institutions.
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