The Dozens of students sitting for the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination at the Government Secondary School, Namnai, in Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State narrowly escaped death on Wednesday evening after their classrooms collapsed during a heavy downpour accompanied by a windstorm.
The students, along with teachers, corps members, and external supervisors, were reportedly trapped in the debris of the collapsed structures and had to be rescued by local residents who responded swiftly to their pain of anguish and cries for help.
Arewa PUNCH learnt that several students, both male and female, sustained varying degrees of injuries, with some reportedly suffering fractures to their limbs.
The victims are currently receiving treatment at a nearby Primary Healthcare Centre in the town.
A resident, Alhaji DanAzumi Lauris, who spoke with Arewa PUNCH in a telephone interview, said the incident happened around 6 pm, shortly after the second set of students had begun their exams.
“It was the second batch of students who had just moved inside the classrooms to sit for their exams that got trapped. The first set had already finished and left.
“The rains came suddenly with strong winds, and the old classroom structures couldn’t withstand it and collapsed on them,” he further narrated.
He added that the windstorm did not only bring down the school buildings but also destroyed several homes within the community.
In a related development, our correspondent also reports that students in Jalingo, the state capital, were also affected by Wednesday’s heavy rainfall.
Some candidates were forced to remain at their exam centres until after 1am, as the torrential rains made it impossible for them to return home earlier.
Arewa PUNCH investigations, however revealed that the students’ plight was further compounded by the late arrival of WAEC papers for the day, resulting in the delay in sitting for the exams which did not begin until 8:pm after many of centres received their question papers.
Efforts to get the Commissioner for Basic Education, Dr. Augustina Godwin to speak on the matter was unsuccessful as her phone line was not reachable as at the time of filing this story.
