Students Trapped As Classrooms Collapse During WAEC Exam

Dozens of students at Government Secondary School, Namnai, in Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State, narrowly escaped death on Wednesday evening when several classrooms collapsed during a downpour that struck while the West African Senior School Certificate Examination was in progress.

The incident, which occurred around 6:00 p.m., caused panic in the quiet community as windstorms ripped through the school structures, trapping students, teachers, corps members, and external supervisors under fallen debris.

Sources told PUNCH that the affected students were part of the second batch writing their papers, while the earlier group had finished and left the examination hall before the storm hit.

“It was the second set of students still writing their exams that got trapped. The first set had already finished and left,” said a resident, Alhaji DanAzumi Lauris, who spoke via telephone.

According to him, the fierce wind and torrential rain battered the already weak school buildings, many of which are said to be decades old and in visible disrepair.

Several students reportedly sustained varying degrees of injuries, with at least a few suffering fractures to their arms and legs.

“It came suddenly, with strong winds. The old classroom structures just couldn’t withstand it,” Lauris added.

Local residents were said to have raced to the scene immediately after the collapse, digging through the rubble with bare hands and makeshift tools to rescue those trapped beneath.

Their swift response is believed to have prevented fatalities.
Photographs and videos circulating online show crumbled walls, shattered roofing sheets, and scattered school furniture, highlighting the severity of the damage.

Some of the injured students were seen being carried on motorcycles to nearby health facilities for treatment.

The rainstorm did not only wreck the school; several homes within the Namnai community were also reportedly destroyed, leaving affected families stranded.