…Our system not compromised – JAMB
…She has always been brilliant, not capable of manipulating result — Candidate’s father
…HURIWA calls for thorough investigation
By Ibiyemi Mathew
Following the decision of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to bar Ejikeme Mmesoma, the candidate accused of manipulating her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) test scores from taking its exam for the next three years, mixed reactions have trailed the decision of the exam body.
The exam body had earlier accused Mmesoma of manipulating her results and inflating her UTME scores from 249 to 362. However, the candidate insisted that 362 was the score she received both on the JAMB website and in the SMS sent to her by the board.
The examination body has stood on its claims and also withdrawn the 249 score, which it claimed is the real score obtained by the candidate in the examination.
The exam body also involved the Department of State Services (DSS) to weigh in on the issue and this has generated widespread reactions on social media with some asking that the exam body exercises maximum caution in the handling of the case.
In a live broadcast on Channels TV yesterday, JAMB spokesman Fabian Benjamin accused Mmesoma of being manipulated to defend the alleged fake result.
“Certainly, there are people behind it and those are the people we are looking for,” he emphasised.
He went in further to say that the accused candidate got the results on the street and mutilated them.
“It’s not taking her anywhere. Even if you go to the school that she chose, that result is not there, but what we’re doing is just to protect the interest of the public out there, otherwise on our system, there is nothing like that showing there,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin added that the JAMB system was not compromised refuting allegations that the results of the candidate was deleted from the exam body’s fatabase.
With Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State setting up a committee of enquiry into the matter, as the JAMB spokesman noted, the exam body wants to be a part of the process.
“We are interested. I’ve sent a message to the Commissioner of Education that ‘please, invite us.’ We’ll come with all the facts. And we want to appeal to Airtel to also appear because Airtel has all the communications, the interactions between this candidate and JAMB on the phone,” Benjamin said.
“And if the candidate will be sincere to bring her phone, you can see those transactions, dates are there. If you had gone further, you would have seen that, yesterday, she also printed the result,” Benjamin said.
…She has always been brilliant, not capable of manipulating result — Candidate’s father
Reacting to the allegation, the father of the candidate Mr. Ejikeme Romanus has come out to describe the allegations against his daughter as a conspiracy.
“Mmesoma cannot manipulate her UTME score. I don’t believe what they are saying. They just want to transfer that scholarship to another person. That is why they are saying that Mmesoma did not make that score.
“It is even her (Mmesoma) friends that saw her score on the internet and started calling her before she went and printed it out. We have the print-out with us now,” He stressed.
He described his daughter as a brilliant child who has always “showcased sterling academic brilliance from her nursery school days and always claimed first position in her class, starting from nursery to secondary school.”
He added that, “When she was at Oba Girls’ Secondary School, Mmesoma was representing the school in competitions. So when she changed to Anglican Girls’ Secondary School, her teachers in Oba Girls came and pleaded with me, begging me to retain her in their school; that she is promoting the name of their school.”
…HURIWA calls for thorough investigations
Addressing newsmen, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko called on JAMB to conduct thorough investigations before running into conclusions as the image and rights of Mmesoma were at stake.
HURIWA condemned JAMB’s actions and called on advocacy groups, the federal government and well-meaning Nigerians to speak up for Mmesoma saying that her rights were being violated.
“We stand firm in condemning JAMB’s actions and call for justice to be served. The recent case of Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma’s alleged fake JAMB score has ignited a firestorm of public outrage across national dailies and social media platforms. JAMB, without proper substantiation, accused Miss Ejikeme of manipulating her UTME result to fraudulently obtain scholarships and recognition.
“It is worth noting that JAMB has failed to provide crucial details, such as how the alleged manipulation occurred, when it happened, whether it was an individual act or involved a group of individuals, or even the specific app or software supposedly used to hack JAMB’s database or server. It is clear that the distinction between manual and electronic manipulation has been deliberately blurred by JAMB.
“By launching these baseless accusations against Miss Ejikeme, JAMB has not only undermined her reputation but has also shown a complete disregard for her rights as a child, as outlined in the Child Rights Act of 2003.
“Furthermore, we call upon the relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Education and the National Human Rights Commission, to conduct a thorough investigation into this matter. JAMB must be held to the highest standards of transparency, integrity, and fairness in order to restore public confidence in its operations,” Onwubiko said.