JAMB Jails 5, Arraigns 123 Suspects Over UTME Illegalities

The authorities of the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB) have secured the conviction of 5 examination offenders, while a total of 123 others are currently facing trial for being involved in irregularities at the just concluded UTME examination.

The five convicted persons are said to have hailed from Zamfara and Kebbi States. While some will be spending months behind bars, others got up to two years sentence for their crimes.

The Examination board published the developments after it had warned that everyone found wanting of exam malpractice would be brought to book.

In the publication, JAMB stated:-

“Five persons who were involved in one form of exam malpractice in the just concluded 2019 UTME have been convicted. As of Sunday, three suspects from Zamfara State and two from Kebbi have been convicted for periods of three months to two years.

“No fewer than 123 suspects are standing trial in various courts on one form of infraction or the other. With the conviction of the five suspects, the board urges the judiciary to continue on this path and to ensure that all suspects arraigned with sufficient facts are convicted.”

On the other hand, JAMB, through its Registrar, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, stated that biometric verification of candidates who wrote the 2019 edition of the exam is the main reason the results have not been released yet, adding that 31 states had already been verified.

Oloyede said:-

“If you know that we have about 1.8million candidates and multiplied by 10 fingers. That is what we are talking about. If you are very close to the National Identity Management Commission, ask them what it takes to analyse fingers in terms of period.

“We have done 31 states and six states (including Abuja) are still not completed.”
Speaking on when candidates can begin to check their results, the registrar reiterated, “I don’t know but it will be very soon. It will be as soon as we complete what we are doing.”