Mock exams: Two JAMB officials escape death in Lagos

THE conduct of the mock examination for the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculations Examination (UTME), on Monday would have turned bloody when there was an attempted murder of two officials of the Joint Admission and Matriculations Board in one of the examination centres in Lagos.

Registrar of JAMB, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, who confirmed the ugly development to newsmen in Abuja, said the timely intervention of the security agencies saved the situation.

He revealed that the alleged officials were promptly rescued after they were wetted with patrol and to be set ablaze by yet to be identified irate hoodlums.

Oloyede, however, said an investigation was already on to ascertain the cause of the attempted murder of JAMB officials on legitimate duty.

A total of over 187,000 candidates who indicated interest for the mock examination at the point of registration, sat for the preparatory examination nationwide on Monday. About 1.8 million candidates registered for the 2019 UTME expected to commence on 11th April.

JAMB Registrar, also disclosed that about 14 Computer Based Test (CBT) Centres, were dis-accredited on Monday morning for various infractions and inability to meet with the requirement of the Board.

He said the Board discovered that some of the CBT centres borrowed computers to fill up their centres to hoodwink JAMB officials during accreditation visits and that the mock examination has exposed them.

Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who in the company of the JAMB Registrar, monitored the mock examination in some Computer Based Test (CBT) centres in Abuja, expressed satisfaction with Board’s preparation for the conduct of the UTME proper.

Adamu said he was proud of JAMB and that from what he saw on the ground the Board is ready for the examination, while also warning all the CBT centres accredited for the forthcoming examination to comply with the Board’s guidelines and regulation.

He said: “Everything is fine and in order. From the reports I am receiving, everything is like this in the centres all over the country.”

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Meanwhile, the JAMB Registrar said the examination went on smoothly in the approved 698 CBT centres where the exercise was held on Monday.

He said: “So far so good, all the centres are doing well. Of the 712 we have to dis-accredit 14 this morning for one infraction or the order, particularly deceit, where some of them will go and borrow some computers thinking that we will not know.

“Now we have about 698 centres left in operation and we have redistributed the candidates.

“The only sad thing that was brought to our notice was that two of our staff were almost murdered in Lagos. There was an attempt on their lives at Lagos State Polytechnic. They were wet with patrol and to be set ablaze.

“We have sent a rescue team and they have been taken to the hospital. We are still looking into what happened.

“We have evacuated our staff from the place and we hope that whoever attempted that; we believe that the law enforcement agencies will not allow such assault on innocent officials of government who are going about their normal business,” he said.

Oloyede used the occasion to remind candidates sitting for the examination that the mock examination is only free in JAMB owned CBT centres, “because we are testing our system. So, we do not need to ask candidates to pay.”

He, however, clarified that private owned centres were authorised to charge not more than 700 per candidate to take care of their logistics in preparation for the mock examination.

He noted that the Global Distance Learning, one of the CBT centres visited in Abuja, is a privately owned centre, and “since we did not establish the place, buy fuel for them, anybody who wants to do the mock examination should pay the N700 which we believe is a reasonable amount.

He explained that because of the redistribution of candidates to some centres out of the 14 centres delisted, the Mock would now hold in two sessions in some centres instead of one session as earlier scheduled.

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