Exam malpractice: WAEC nabs over 20 exam officials 

No fewer than 20 schools officials, allegedly aiding and abetting examination malpractice, have been arrested by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) in its ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates.

The Council said that the arrests were made in various parts of the country.

The Head, National Office (HNO) of council, Mr Patrick Areghan, disclosed this on the sidelines of a monitoring exercise he carried out in some schools on Thursday in Lagos.

According to him, the WAEC has since handed over all the culprits to the police for prosecution.

Areghan vowed that the council would do everything possible to ensure that their prosecution was followed to logical conclusion.

“The issue of examination malpractice can no longer be treated with kid gloves.

READ ALSO:

• Sanwo-Olu appoints NPC commissioner Salu-Hundeyin as new SSG
• Catholic Church talks tough over El-Rufai’s ‘statement’, writes Tinubu, Kaduna gov
• Ooni: The public displays of a king (1)

“It is no longer business as usual, as it has completely eroded morals and values in our society. It is taking a dangerous dimension, of which, if not tackled will bring our country to its knees.

“Now, since the commencement of this examination, we have deployed our technology, designed to catch examination cheats and we are happy at the results we have gotten so far.

“For instance, in Ibadan, Oyo, where we have our zonal office, which takes care of Osun, Kwara and Oyo itself, we made three arrests in a school and for the purpose of confidentiality, I will not mention the name.

“There, a supervisor at a centre, principal and invigilator were all arrested.They were arrested for allegedly snapping and posting the questions to some platforms, thereby, aiding and abetting examination malpractices.’’

He said: “Then, in Maiduguri, a supervisor and principal of a school, were both arrested and handed over to the police too.

“In Umuahia, a teacher and a supervisor were arrested in a particular school and they have been handed over to the police.

“In Abeokuta, a school proprietor was the first to be caught at the beginning of this examination on May 8, snapping and posting question papers,” he said.

Areghan described the act as a monumental disgrace.

The WAEC official, said that the proprietor and a supervisor had since been arrested and also handed over to the police.

He further disclosed that the same situation was also recorded at

Osogbo, where a principal, invigilator and chief supervisor were arrested for the same offence.

According to him, in Kaduna too, a supervisor and an examination official in a school who were caught in the act, were arrested and handed over to the police.

He explained that the school, which was ceded to Kaduna was supposed to be Kano, but was ceded because it was closer to Kaduna.

Areghan said that the arrests would continue until the end of the examination.

He urged candidates not allow their future to be compromised by persons who did not wish them well, by promising to assist them pass their examination through illegal means, stressing that WAEC’s examinations could never be accessed illegally.

Exam malpractice: WAEC nabs over 20 exam officials 

Catholic Church talks tough over El-Rufai’s ‘statement’, writes Tinubu, Kaduna gov

Against the backdrop of a controversial statement on Muslims dominance in the governance of Kaduna State credited to the immediate past Governor of the state, Nasir El-Rufai, the Catholic community in the state has called on the President Bola Tinubu and Governor Uba Sani to call the former governor to order before he sets the entire country into a religious crisis.

In the trending video, El-Rufai, at a meeting with some Muslim clerics, said in Hausa language that most Christians in Kaduna did not vote his party (the All Progressives Congress), hence the reason he orchestrated their exclusion from being even Deputy Governor.

He also said that the APC can win elections without the Christians and that for the same reason, he deliberately excluded Christians in all the top cadre.

However, in an open letter copied to the Presidency and the Governor of Kaduna State, the Nigerian Catholic Diocesan Priests Association (NCDPA), Kaduna State chapter asked Governor Sani to make his official position on El-rufai’s inciting utterances known because he (Sani) was at the event where El-rufai made the controversial statement.

READ ALSO:

• Ooni: The public displays of a king (1)

• FG declares June 12 public holiday for Democracy Day

• Nigeria wins UN Economic Council seat

• Osimhen ranked most valuable African footballer

The letter jointly signed by chairmen of Kaduna Archdiocese, Rev. Fr Joseph Gandu, Kafanchan Diocese, Very Rev. Fr Douglas Rock, and Zaria Diocese, Very Rev. Fr Samuel Ameh, the Priests said they expected Uba Sani to use his good office to correct the fallacies that the former governor’s actions and comments have created and propagated in Kaduna State in the past eight years.

The open letter was copied to the Presidency, the three Catholic Bishops of Kaduna, Kafanchan and Zaria; Archbishop Matthew Man’oso Ndagoso, Bishop Julius Yakubu Kundi and Very Rev. Fr Michael Kagarko respectively.
of the governance of the state.

“We cannot fold our hands and watch unpatriotic persons who neither live in the state nor care about it, come and set it ablaze at will. More so, we and our congregations have prominently been at the receiving end of the terrors of ineffective governance, especially in the last eight (8) years,” the letter partly read.

“We are writing you because we want you to succeed. Religion occupy the place given it under the Constitution, and should never be used as a cover up for incompetence and failure. The peace and progress of our state should never be traded for some atrocious political expediency. We assure you of our unrelenting support and prayers, trusting that God will give you the wisdom to govern and give Kaduna State an enviable reputation among other States,” the letter concluded.

Catholic Church talks tough over El-Rufai’s ‘statement’, writes Tinubu, Kaduna gov

(CHANNELS)

Gunmen kill Catholic Priest in Benin

A Catholic Priest, Rev. Fr. Charles Igechi, in the Benin Archdiocese, has been reportedly shot dead by gunmen in Benin City, Edo State.

It was gathered that the priest was shot dead by gunmen on Wednesday along the Agbor road at bypass area in Ikhueniro axis of Benin, on his way to his place of assignment.

Another Priest within the Benin Archdiocese who preferred anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, confirmed the killing of the priest.

“It is true, he was killed. No body was with him when he was killed by gunmen, you would see how bullets entered his body. His body was found at bypass.

Confirming the incident, the Catholic Archbishop of Benin City, Augustine Akubeze, said the issue has been reported to the police and expressed hope that justice would be served on the perpetrators of the dastardly act.

READ ALSO:

• Gunmen kidnap four in Kwara while returning from naming ceremony
• We’re one family – Tinubu, seeks govs support to tackle poverty, insecurity
• FIRS, LIRS establish joint tax audit/investigation team