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Students from four communities in Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State were unable to participate in the ongoing junior and senior West African Examinations Council (WAEC) examinations this year owing to the rampant acts of terrorism visited on the affected communities by suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and their militant wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
To make matters worse, the terror group allegedly looted and destroyed all local schools, rendering them unusable.
The affected communities; Umulolo, Akụ, Agbovu, and Umuawa-Ibu, reported that beside making the community unsafe for living, their secondary and primary schools have also been stripped of iron doors, window protectors, zinc roofs, and other critical infrastructure, which the hoodlums allegedly sold away at ridiculously cheap prices.
Umunnakwe Precious, an activist, who said she had her childhood in Okigwe, listed some of the vandalized schools as: Umulolo Girls Secondary School (Precious’s alma mater); Umulolo Boys Secondary School, Agbovu Community Secondary School, Umuawa-Ibu Secondary School and Akụ Okigwe Community Secondary School.
In a recent Facebook post, Precious wrote: “IPOB/ESN terrorist boys shut down and looted these schools completely. As I speak, children here no longer know what it means to go to school.”
The destruction has left hundreds of students stranded during the WAEC exams, which were safely conducted in neighboring areas and across the country.
“Our children are at home while others are writing their exams. This is a tragedy,” Precious added.
Residents challenged authorities and journalists to verify the claims: “Go to Okigwe Express Roundabout, take a bike to any of these communities, and see the empty, roofless classrooms for yourself.”
Local leaders accused IPOB/ESN-linked groups of orchestrating the attacks and called for urgent government intervention to rebuild schools, restore sanity and order in many Okigwe communities.
Though IPOB has repeatedly denied involvement in such violence, attributing destruction to criminal elements and state-sponsored actors, but locals and community leaders insist that rogue elements linked to the group were behind the terror, killings, arson and cannibalization of public institutions.
Editor’s note: This photo is for illustration
