The National Examinations Council (NECO) has rejected claims that Government Secondary School, Olowa, in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State, where five persons were abducted during the ongoing Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), is a “miracle centre” for examination malpractice.
The examination body described the allegation as false, insisting that the school is a legitimate government-owned institution that has presented candidates for its examinations for more than two decades.
The controversy followed Tuesday’s attack by gunmen who invaded the school around 5:25 p.m. while candidates were writing the ongoing NECO examination.
The attackers abducted students, the school principal and a NECO ad hoc staff member.
Speaking after the incident, the Commanding Officer of the 21 Battalion, Nigerian Army, Lieutenant Colonel Godiya Solomon Monde, alleged that the school was notorious as a centre for examination malpractice.
“The issue is that this school is definitely isolated as you can see; it’s actually tagged as a miracle centre for the students,” he said.
Monde added that troops had difficulty locating the school after receiving a distress call and found examination papers scattered around the premises.
On Thursday, the Kogi State Government announced that four of the abducted victims had been rescued following a coordinated security operation ordered by Governor Ahmed Ododo.
However, in a statement issued on Friday, NECO’s Acting Director of Information and Public Relations, Azeez Sani, dismissed comments describing the school as a miracle centre.
Sani expressed sympathy for the victims and commended security agencies and the Kogi State Government for securing the release of the abductees.
He said Government Secondary School, Olowa, is a state-owned institution that has existed for more than 40 years and has consistently presented candidates for the NECO Senior School Certificate Examination since 2000.
According to NECO, the school’s principal, Daniel Iyamaa, who was among those abducted, is a Grade Level 17 officer in the Kogi State Civil Service, while the kidnapped examination supervisor, Solomon Audu, is a Grade Level 12 teacher employed by the state government.
The council also clarified that all 28 candidates registered by the school for the 2026 NECO SSCE were bona fide students and not external candidates.
It further disclosed that the school’s enrolment figures had remained consistent over the years, with 21 candidates in 2021, 20 in 2022, 28 in 2023, 40 in 2024, 20 in 2025 and 28 in 2026.
NECO added that the Kogi State Government also paid examination fees for 51 students of the school who sat the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination.
The council revealed that before the commencement of the 2026 SSCE, its Kogi State Coordinator had written to security agencies requesting protection for examination centres following an earlier attack on Government Secondary School, Iluke, during the 2026 WASSCE.
Reaffirming its zero-tolerance stance on examination malpractice, NECO said reforms introduced under its Registrar and Chief Executive, Professor Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi, had significantly reduced malpractice cases over the past five years.
The council urged public officials and stakeholders to verify facts before making public statements capable of damaging the reputation of educational institutions.
