Secondary school students sitting for the 2025 West African Secondary Schools Certificate Examination (WASSCE) sat for their English paper in the dark amid blackout and insecurity.

The Guardian learnt that the exam started around 7 pm on Wednesday and was scheduled to end around 9 pm in some schools, while candidates in other centers sat for theirs around between 4 pm and 7 pm.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the exam started late in some schools due to alleged question leaks, but these claims have yet to be verified.

Findings revealed that some of the students sat for the exam amid blackouts and in insecure zones, using flashlights from their mobile phones to write the exam.

Speaking to The Guardian on Wednesday night, the brother of one of the exam candidates, Mubarak Akande, said he walked into his sister?s school at the Adewole area of Ilorin in Kwara State around 7 pm and was shocked to see the students sitting for the exam at that time.

While narrating his experience, Akande, who resides in the Olorunsogo area of Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, said he saw the students sitting in a dark classroom using flashlights from their phones to write the exams.

?I got to the school and saw all the students writing exams with flashlights and headlamps. The school was not properly illuminated. Imagine anyone with a sight defect there. I?m really livid,? he said.

Many X users have taken to the microblogging platform to knock the examination board for conducting exams in the dark.

One X user wrote, ?Students in Nigeria are currently writing their WAEC exams under terrible conditions. Today, the English paper, which began at 8:00 pm, is being conducted. Some students were reportedly asked to bring rechargeable lights to continue the exam. The exam is still on. This is 9:33pm.?

?WAEC is keeping teenage students for hours now, waiting like fools. Till now, English papers are yet to arrive. In 2025, in Nigeria. This is beyond incompetence. It is disgraceful. Heads must roll. Someone must be held accountable. We won?t keep normalizing this madness,? another X user wrote.

The examination conducting body has not released a statement regarding this at the time of filing this report.

In April, The Guardian reported that many candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) risked their safety by leaving their homes before dawn to sit for their 6:30 am exams. (The Guardian)

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