The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) slammed the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) yesterday for claimed discrimination against and violation of Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma’s rights in its handling of the ‘fabricated result’ scandal.
In a statement issued yesterday by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the organisation called for an investigation into the administration of Prof. Ishaq Oloyede and justice for the 16-year-old Anambra indigene.
Stating that the examination organisation falsely accused the teenager of falsifying her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results in order to fraudulently get a scholarship and accolades, HURIWA went on to say that “this reckless and seemingly official statement has resulted in a relentless condemnation of an innocent girl, who achieved the highest score in the JAMB examination.”
The body said: 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.
“JAMB’s actions have demonstrated either a gross ignorance of or contempt for Nigerian laws, particularly those protecting the rights of children.”
HURIWA argued that JAMB’s motive behind the attack on the youngster was rooted in discrimination.
According to the group, “the repeated mention of Anambra State and INNOSON in their ill-advised public statement suggests a biassed agenda aimed at undermining a young girl’s achievements simply because of her geographical and ethnic background.” It went on: “This reprehensible act is a clear violation of the principles of fairness, equality, and the rights of Nigerian citizens.”
The condemnation came as the examination body barred the teenager from taking the test in the next three years. It also assured Nigerians that its system was neither tampered with nor compromised.
JAMB boss, Prof. Oloyede, stated that his organisation had concluded its investigation of the case. He said Mmesoma was not the only candidate caught falsifying results.
His words: “The truth is that JAMB has concluded the investigation of Nmesoma’s score falsification matter. Presently, there is an industry faking results, and unfortunately, they cannot penetrate the JAMB system, the reason being that our system is foolproof, and we will prove it any time.
“There is internal evidence to show that the change in Ejikeme’s scores was done with her collaboration. There are certain features pertaining to her that only she knows, unless she makes them available to somebody else. They couldn’t have increased her scores on her behalf.
“We improved on our facilities this year. So Ejikeme and her collaborators are still living in the past. We are no longer using some of the things they used in changing those results since 2021. We used that pattern in 2021, and you saw what happened, and many of such individuals were caught and treated accordingly.”
Corroborating the fakeness’ of the result, the organisation, in a statement by its Acting Director, Press and Publicity, Fabian Benjamin, explained that Mmesoma “simply falsified a copy of a result slip of a candidate named Asimiyu Mariam Omobolanle, who sat the UTME in 2021 and scored 138.”
According to JAMB, “it is also instructive to note that the candidate, in her statement, has inadvertently revealed the rightful owner of the result she is parading when she pointed out that the QR code on the result slip showed the actual owner of the said result before she peddled a lie in an attempt to obfuscate the truth.”
It continued: “To witness the unassailable position of the Board regarding this obvious falsehood, the general public is, therefore, urged to endeavour to scan the QR code on the result slip to see its actual owner before it was mutilated.
“It is to be noted that the QR code encapsulates the UTME result of each candidate; hence, what is on the result sheet is nothing other than the interpretation of the information on this QR code.
“Furthermore, the public is also to note that the Board stopped issuing Notification of Result Slips after the 2021 UTME for the simple reason that candidates were falsifying them. Consequently, the Board has been issuing actual UTME RESULT slips (not notifications of results) since 2022, complete with the photograph of each candidate.
“Similarly, the public is also invited to ponder the fact that out of all the candidates that sat the 2023 UTME, only Miss Ejikeme Mmesoma parades the obsolete ‘Notification of Result.’
“The Board remains unperturbed by this unfortunate development, as this is not the first time such fraudulent claims have been made. As such, Nigerians are urged to recall numerous occasions where the Board was sued for billions of naira only for the lawyers to later profusely apologise for their clients’ misadventure.
“Prominent among these is the case of a candidate, John Chinedu Ifesinachi, who, in 2021, wrote a letter to the Board, threatening to sue for N2 billion damages, only for him and his counsel to tender an unreserved apology when the candidate eventually confessed his crime in the face of incontrovertible facts in an open investigation observed by several national public institutions, including the Public Complaints Commission, National Human Rights Commission, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council, Servicom, and media houses.
“This case has, therefore, been rightly handed over to relevant security agencies for a thorough investigation to unravel the masterminds of yet another unfortunate scam. The Board is not averse to public scrutiny and is ready for an open public session involving the agencies listed above as well as relevant security agencies where the candidate, her parents, and her legal team will be present.
“Another frightening dimension to the unfolding drama is the unwholesome interest of some nefarious elements, who to all intents and purposes are determined to goad the candidate on this unproductive path, as any casual observer would observe with the obviously stage-managed video aired by Miss Ejikeme.”
