Abductions fear  grip 1.9m SSCE candidates, as FG, WAEC face scrutiny for lapses

Adebayo Obajemu 

The rising Insecurity in the country has taken its toll on the ongoing Senior School Certificate examination conducted by the West Africa Examinations Council, WAEC.

Reports across the country suggest that the examination body has not learnt any lesson from its past lapses in the conduct of the examinations.

As the examinations continue nationwide, fear and apprehension  envelope the air  over the persistent abduction of students and teachers, amidst rising insecurity, which has cast a dark shadow over the ongoing examination.

Psychologists, teachers, parents and students and stakeholders, who spoke to Business Hallmark,  are highly apprehensive and disturbed that the insecurity may affect the participation and performance of over 1.9 million candidates currently taking the  examination in more than 24,000 centres across the country.

Recall that the ongoing examinations  started on 21 April 2026 with practical papers and will end on 19 June 2026.

The concerns and apprehension come on the heels of  two unresolved school abduction incidents in Borno and Oyo States, where dozens of pupils, students and teachers were abducted and have since remained in  captivity more than 20 days after the abductions.

The two sad  incidents, which have sparked national and international outrage have renewed  fears about the safety of learning environments and raised fresh questions about the government capacity to ensure safe learning environment, students’ ability to deploy total concentration on their examinations under such fearful and worrisome circumstances.

Psychologists and leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and others have  expressed the impact of taking examination without security presence in an atmosphere of insecurity.

They are of the view that the psychological impact of repeated school attacks extends far beyond the affected communities, have implications for the students’ psyche and may develop in them lack of patriotism borne out of the realization that the government can not protect them.

Stakeholders, experts React

Professor Ojo Agbaje, clinical psychologist, told Business Hallmark. that. “This year may witness some failures because the students taking the examinations without protection may feel psychologically not atunned to the exam environment, because their mind is already processing fear instead of intellectualism . Their mind will not be able to process or receive analysis of the questions. Government has failed them.”

According to  Dr. Ahmed  Bello, ” candidates  taking the examinations in relatively safe locations may be distracted by fears for their own security, with many constantly worrying that their schools could become the next target. It’s height of irresponsibility that in spite of killing and growing abductions federal and state governments failed so far to provide security for them, but they could deploy security in their numbers for their political activities.

Adeola Balogun, a parent, who has two children writing the exams, told this medium that “it’s disturbing that government has not given it a thought to protect these students writing the exams, even when they know that through WAEC’s incompetence the exams so far do not start early on schedule but drag into sometimes 10 pm in the night.

Balogun, like other parents, who spoke to BH, urged the federal and state governments to take urgent measures to secure schools, rescue those still in captivity and restore confidence in the education system before the crisis leaves lasting scars on a generation of learners.

As of the time of this report, two major school abduction cases involving pupils, students and teachers remain unresolved in Borno and Oyo States, with the victims still in the custody of their abductors.

In Borno State, suspected Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgents attacked Government Day Secondary School and nearby primary schools in Mussa community, Askira/Uba Local Government Area, on 16 May 2026.

During the attack, 42 pupils and students were reportedly abducted. As of the time of this report, none of the victims had been officially rescued or released, meaning they had spent 19 days in captivity.

Following the incident, the Borno State Government ordered the closure and relocation of the affected schools.

Similarly, gunmen struck in Ogbomoso on 15 May 2026, attacking Community High School, Ahoro-Esinele; Yawota Baptist Nursery and Primary School; and L.A. Primary School in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

Recurring Problems

About 46 people, comprising 39 pupils and students and seven teachers, were abducted during the raid. Meanwhile, no official rescue or release had been announced as of the time of this report, indicating that the victims had spent 20 days in captivity.

The schools whose pupils, students and teachers are still being held by terrorists or armed kidnappers are Government Day Secondary School and neighbouring primary schools in Mussa, Askira/Uba LGA of Borno State, where 42 children remain missing, and schools in Ahoro-Esinele community, Oriire LGA of Oyo State, where 39 pupils and students, alongside seven teachers, are still in captivity.

Commenting on the implications of persistent insecurity on the ongoing WAEC examinations, the Principal Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Ogun State chapter, Mr Samson Oyelere, warned that the situation could significantly affect candidates’ performance.

“It is going to affect students’ performance because unabated fear, trauma and displacement directly kill focus and concentration.

“Candidates writing WAEC under the shadow of abductions will underperform due to anxiety, sleeplessness and broken study time,” he said.

Oyelere warned that repeated school abductions could have devastating long-term consequences for education in Nigeria.

“This act will lead to mass school dropouts, education migration to safer locations and loss of trust. Parents will keep their children, especially girls, at home. Nigeria risks producing an entire lost generation with low literacy and skills,” he warned.

To restore confidence, he urged the government to deploy trained security personnel to schools, establish rapid response teams, prosecute abductors swiftly and provide psychosocial support for affected students.

“Confidence returns when children are safe, not when promises are made,” he stressed.

Also on the matter, the president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Akinteye Afeez, said examinations should continue but called on governments at all levels to strengthen security around schools.

“We feel that WAEC examinations should still go on, but we are calling on the federal government, state governments and local governments to ensure security and protect the lives of students. That will give them confidence and enable them to focus on their examinations,” he said.

“Teachers may no longer be willing to teach in schools, while many could seek opportunities outside the country. Our education system is going to suffer seriously if this continues,” she warned.

A parent, Mrs.  Ayobami Hassan , whose  son  is writing the WAEC examination at Titcombe College , Egbe, Kogi state  said the government must do everything possible to restore confidence among students and ensure perpetrators of school attacks are punished.

“As it’s now, fear is like wild fire, it spreads fast. Even students in schools that are not directly affected will be afraid because many things will be going through their minds. That psychological pressure can affect their performance,” she said.

According to her, tackling school insecurity should become a national priority.

“If we are serious about the education sector in this country, everything needs to be grounded to tackle this issue,” she added.

A civil servant, who was identified as Kola, told Business Hallmark that there is a need to warn the Nigerian government against falling into the game plan of the terrorists.

Nefarious Agenda

“When the whole thing started with Boko Haram, the Islamic terrorists made it clear that their ultimate agenda was to abolish Western education and replace it with Islamic teaching. Now they are consistently attacking schools and striking fear into the hearts of pupils, students and teachers. Aren’t they on the way to achieving their goal of discouraging people from going to school?

“The Nigerian government must take the fight against terrorists as a priority above everything else in order to save and protect the next generation,” she said.

Biyi Oladele of the Examinations Transparency and Accountability Project told Business Hallmark that ” there’s no known centres that we have monitored where we encountered security operatives providing security for  students taking the papers this year in spite of the fact some of papers ran into 10 pm at some centres. How do we explain this amidst insecurity that’s almost becoming a pandemic.

A staff of WAEC at  Ogba office, who pleaded not to be named, informed this medium that  “part of the delay is because of insecurity.  The examination body  was trying to ensure  that the papers were not hijacked by criminally -minded individuals or group after which they will turn round and blame it on bandits. That was why the papers arrived late in many centres across the country, especially in the Southwest states of Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti and Osun.

In Oyo state, the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Olusegun Olayiwola, conveyed the government’s displeasure over the avoidable stress, anxiety, and risks to which candidates have been exposed as a result of the late commencement of some examination papers, contrary to the approved WAEC timetable.

According to the Commissioner, reports received, and subsequently verified, indicated that examination materials for papers scheduled on Thursday, June 4, 2026, did not arrive at several examination centres across Oyo State at the stipulated time. This was the situation across many centres in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo , Osun and Ekiti.

The commissioner noted that specifically, Government (Objective) and Agricultural Science (Practical) question papers reportedly did not reach many centres until about 6:30 p.m., making it difficult for candidates to sit for the examinations as scheduled and exposing them to unnecessary hardship.

Hon. Olayiwola further revealed that as of 8:11 p.m., some examination centres in Ogbomoso and Saki were still conducting the Government (Objective) paper, while the Agricultural Science Practical examination, which was scheduled to follow, had yet to commence.

The Commissioner also noted that a similar challenge occurred on June 3, 2026, when Mathematics (Objective) question papers were reportedly supplied in insufficient quantities to several centres, resulting in delays that extended examination activities late into the night.

While emphasizing that WAEC is an international examination body beyond the direct control of the Oyo State Government, Hon. Olayiwola appealed to the examination body to take proactive measures to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.

At many centres across the country, especially Southwest, examinations did not start on schedule and had to drag into the night. In some centres, there was no light and candidates resorted to using their phones’ torchlight.

A parent in Lagos, who identified as  Mrs. Biola Ajayi, told BH that when she was disturbed and visited the centre, where her teenage daughter took the exam she was shocked to see that at 9 pm they were still writing the English paper.

“WAEC has not learnt any lesson. This was what they did in  2025”, she said.

Ajayi blamed government for not providing security for candidates writing the exams.