WAEC: How Nasarawa schools were fumigated with ‘insecticide killers’ against COVID-19

Abubakar Lawal

Only few Nasarawa State public schools writing the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) were fumigated as a preventive measure against COVID-19 pandemic despite the approval and.release of N21 million for fumigation by Governor Abdullahi Sule, CAPITAL POST’s investigation has revealed.

Nasarawa State has 239 public schools, while private schools are 282 which the Federal Ministry of Education directed that exit students should be allowed to write their final examinations under.strict COVID-19 protocols.

in compliance with conditions precedent to allowing students write their WAEC, governor Abdullahi Sule approved the sum of twenty one million naira for the fumigation of the schools that has 49,700 candidates writing their examinations.

Some schools after waited for the State Ministry of Environment to carry out fumigation without success, resorted to the use of insecticide to fumigate their schools to enable students write their exams.

Principal of a public school who did not.want his name mentioned said:
“We learnt that the governor approved N21 million for fumigation of our schools, but we have not.seen the ministry of environment, hence, we have to use insecticide killers to fumigate school to ensure a free COVID-19 cases.”

Our correspondent who visited some exams centers in Lafia and other local government areas which include Doma LGA, to monitor the exercise reports that the fumigation was carried out in some selected schools while others where left to their fate.

“The state ministry of environment had been scheduled with the responsibility of fumigation exercise to ensure the safety of students and their teachers during and after the examinations.

This became glaring when, CAPITAL POST visited Saint John Bosco Doma on physic exams day the oldest private school in the state established in1973 and produced many political officeholders in this present administration include, Commissioner of Encouragement, Musa Ibrahim only to discover that the school was not fumigated.

Speaking in an interview with the school principal, Rev.father, Victor Davou confirmed that as at the time of the examination which entered day three, there was not any fumigation or COVID-19 protocol for the school by Government as earlier promised.

“Two weeks before the commencement of this year’s WAEC, we were asked to submit our memo on what we needed to be done to avert the spread of the pandemic which I wrote through the ministry of education but up till now no reply’, Davou explained.

“What we did was to come back to our drawing board and strategise on what to do now that government is not responding to our request as they demanded.

Rev. Father Davou said that “the school management provided with facemask, hands sanitizers, soap, bucket above all fumigation of the school with the lean resources at our desposal. He added.

This is also apilcable to some public schools in the area (name of such withheld) for job security of heads of those schools in Lafia and Doma LGA.

While addressing journalists shortly after monitored some examination centers in Lafia, State Commissioner of education, Hajiya Fati Sabo Jimeta affirmed that government had taken measure to fumigate schools across the state.

“We provide all our WAEC candidates with facemask, similarly, we provide them with hands sanitizers and soap in our quest to observe COVID-19 protocol, adding that fifty students have one washing center. She explained.

As the time of going to the press all efforts to contact the State Commissioner of Environment, Musa Ibrahim through phone calls and SMS was not responded