The National Examinations Council (NECO) has said that its ongoing Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) were not disrupted in the South-East or any part of the country, following the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The spokesperson for the examination body, Mr Azeez Sanni, stated this in a phone interview with EduCeleb.com on Monday in reaction to multiple reports of enforced stoppage of movement mainly in the five states where IPOB imposed the order.
Candidates writing the SSCE were meant to sit for Mathematics on Monday.
Recall that members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, had declared Monday a sit-at-home day for people of the region in solidarity with their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who is in incarceration.
Sani said, “So far, we have not got any report of any candidate being stopped from sitting for the NECO exam in the South-East.
“Our field officers over there have not given any report that exams did not hold.”
When asked what would happen if the candidates are unable to write the paper because of the IPOB stance, Sanni said it would be speculative to give answer to that as the examining body had not received such report.
Conflicting stances
IPOB has released two conflicting statements on Sunday regarding the stay-at-home order.
Emma Powerful, the IPOB spokesperson issued a statement reconfirming the order, insisting that no sacrifice was too much to make for the freedom of IPOB’s leader.
Powerful warned that nobody should dare out from 6.00am to 6.00pm to avoid any confrontation with Security agents. However, the Police had asked everybody to go about their businesses.
Part of Powerful’s statement reads, “The entire Biafra land will be locked down every Monday from 6:00am to 6:00pm beginning from tomorrow, August 9, 2021until our leader, Nnamdi Kanu who was abducted in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria and locked up in DSS dungeon in clear violation of international laws is freed.
“Consequently, there will be no movement throughout Biafra land on Mondays until our leader who is suffering for our freedom is released. This protest is peaceful but firm. Everybody is advised to stay indoors in total compliance.
“We want his immediate release and our total freedom, and cannot hesitate to pay any sacrifice needed to achieve this including locking down the entire Biafra land on Mondays.
“All residents and visitors in Biafra land are advised to comply with the order. Nobody should go out to avoid any clash or intimidation by the wicked Nigeria security agents.”
But hours later, a contradictory statement was issued by the hitherto not heard of Kanunta Kanu who has never spoken on behalf of IPOB before.
In the statement, Kanunta said IPOB has suspended the Sit-At-Home Order scheduled to begin tomorrow, and would announce a new date.
It cited the NECO examination by students as a reason for the cancellation, saying that IPOB will not allow Biafran children the opportunity to join others in taking the examination. A new date will be announced later the statement said.
Part of the statement reads, “IPOB has listened to pleas from well-meaning individuals and groups within and outside Biafra land that we consider the fate of our children who will be involved in the NECO Exam and based on that, we decided to shift grounds over the sit-at-home order.”
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