Sit-at-home order: Gunmen invade Imo school, chase away students taking WASSCE

BY MARTIN NWOKO AND JAMES OJO

Students of Comprehensive Secondary School, Nkume in Njaba LGA of Imo state, were chased away from participating in the ongoing 2021 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) on Monday.

The students arrived the school in the early hours of the day ahead of their English Language (essay and objective) paper.

But before they could start the day’s exam, gunmen suspected to be members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) invaded the school and started shooting sporadically to scare people away.

Both teachers and students were said to have fled the school premises in the ensuing melee.

The gunmen were also said to have set motorcycles belonging to some of the teachers and students of the school ablaze.

In a now-viral video, the school could be seen in a desolate state, as the exam halls were empty with nobody in sight.

“Is happening live in CSS Nkume, unknown gunmen came and chased us out while we were writing our exam and as well set ablaze motorcycle of our teachers, our society have spoilt so much,” a voice, believed to be that of one of the affected students, could be heard in another video.

When contacted by TheCable Lifestyle, Michael Abattam, the state police spokesman, said he is yet to be briefed about the incident.

“You know you journalists get information first before us, we are yet to get any official report over this and once we get such report we make our stand known,” he said.

The development comes amid the sit-at-home order by IPOB which grounded activities in most parts of the south-east during the day.

Some private school owners in Imo had earlier expressed concern after the sit-at-home order disrupted their scheduled resumption of school activities.

IPOB had on July 30 ordered a sit-at-home in the south-east every Monday until Nnamdi Kanu, its leader, is released from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).

The proscribed group said the lockdown tagged ‘Ghost Monday’ will also affect schools and marketplaces.

The separatist group had in a recent twist also announced that it would enforce a sit-at-home on Tuesday in the south-east to remember the victims of the military attack on Kanu’s residence in 2017.

However, governors in the region have called on residents to disregard the sit-at-home directive.