Silas Jonathan
A Twitter user in a recent video claims that an invigilator engaged in a brawl with a student during this year’s the West African Examination Council’s (WAEC) examinations.
False: the claim that an invigilator and a student fought during a West African Examination Council’s examination is False. The video had been in circulation even before the commencement of the 2020 WAEC exams.
Full Text
The lore about students having qualms with their invigilators during exams is not a new spectacle. However, a recent tweet by a user showed something quite unusual from the norm.
The user: @neeratou tweeted a video of two individuals engaged in serious physical fight with onlookers cheering them. The user claimed that the fight was between an invigilator and a student during the ongoing West African Examinations Council’s exams, hashtagging #schoolreopening.
Shared on the 24th of August 2020, the video attracted over 25,000 views, 209 comments, 798 retweets, with over 1,600 likes. It was also featured on this site where it attracted 126 likes.
The name of the school or the people involved were not mentioned anywhere, as the video continues to garner even more public attention.
With the Nigerian educational structure already facing tough times amidst the pandemic, such videos merely exacerbate an already challenging situation in the educational system.
Verification
An analysis of the video on InVid traced it to this Facebook page, where it was first shared 10 weeks ago, two months before the commencement of the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) exams which kicked off on August 17, 2020.
The Facebook page which first shared the video described itself as a ‘satirical sports page’ containing multiple satirical videos.
Yet, contrary to the claimant, the principal source of the video did not attribute it to a student and invigilator fighting but rather as a mere satire designed to trigger laughter for its viewers.
To press further, we contacted the West African Examination Council via an email and placed several telephone calls through regarding the matter, but as at press time, no responses have been received.
Whilst the report on lifestyle.ng shares the same narrative with the claim, it alluded to Ghana as the venue of the event, contrary to the reference of Nigeria in the claimant’s version. The date also varies starkly. Lifestyle.ng published the content on August 20th 4 days before the claimant’s tweet was even made. This clear mismatch indicates that the claim lacks an iota of truth.
Conclusion
The claim about a fight between a student and an invigilator during the West African Examination Council’s examinations is False. The video has been in existence before the claim was made.