Hijab controversy: JAMB makes more clarifications on Lagos incident

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, on Wednesday, said the female candidate who was asked to remove her hijab before sitting for her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination in Lagos did not lose a minute out of her scheduled time.

DAILY POST recalls that the candidate, who sat for the examination at the Bafuto Institute, Ile-Iwe Bus Stop, Ejigbo, Lagos, was said to have been asked by JAMB officials to remove her headcover during the accreditation process before being allowed into the hall.

There are reports that the lady was not allowed into the examination hall until 30 minutes into the exercise, triggering calls for compensation.

Reacting, JAMB, in a statement issued on Wednesday by its spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, described the report as an error, saying it was a “misleading narrative aimed at inflaming passion and exacerbating an already-settled issue”.

Part of the statement reads, “It is worthy of note that the incident had been thoroughly investigated by the Board and we could, therefore, state categorically that the candidate’s time was not affected in any way.

“The Board perceives examination as a reflection of a candidate’s performance, especially when such a candidate is not deprived of any privilege or right.

“Therefore, the little drama associated with the entrance of Ms. Tiamiyu Ayisat Morenikeji into the examination venue has no effect on her time, space or anything related to her schedule as it happened within the time allotted to the biometric verification of candidates earmarked for a particular session and had, therefore, not even gained ingress into her final destination, the examination hall.

“It is on record that the Board’s examination officials comprising the team centre officials, the supervisor, technical staff, biometric verification officer and other officials, acted promptly to address the situation and the candidate was allowed to undergo other necessary processes preparatory to taking her examination in good time”.