JAMB apprehends 40 impersonators as parents lament early exam arrival time

No fewer than 40 individuals have been apprehended and are currently being prosecuted for impersonating candidates during the ongoing 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, according to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.

Meanwhile, several parents and guardians are expressing frustration over the 6.30 am arrival time for the examination, arguing that many candidates have to travel long distances to reach their centres.

The 2025 UTME, which began on Thursday, April 24, is scheduled to end on Monday, May 5.

JAMB reported that over 2,030,627 candidates are participating in this year’s examination across accredited Computer-Based Test centres nationwide.

One mother, who said she resides in Awoyaya in the Lekki area of Lagos, expressed concern that her 14-year-old son, who was posted to a centre in Ikorodu, might miss his exam due to the early schedule.

“The examination slip states that candidates are expected at the centre by 6.30 am. So, that means my son must be on the road by 4 am. I don’t drive. We don’t have a car. He would have to take a bus. Even if I decide to go with him, how are we supposed to get a bus at that time, and how are we supposed to get to Ikorodu before 6.30 am?

“This is wickedness. JAMB should look into this and move the exam forward. 6.30 am for an examination is too early.”

A guardian, Olaoluwa Yinka, sharing his experience on X, wrote, “My younger sister has just travelled today for her UTME tomorrow morning. From Abeokuta, she was sent to Ijebu Igbo by 6.30 am. This is very absurd.

“When I wrote JAMB, I did so around 9 am and the heavens did not fall. This CBT is the problem. Students get to the centre, and sometimes the systems don’t work as well.”

Another user on X, Lucas Oluwadare (@lucasoluwadare1), stated, “My younger sister is scheduled to sit the exams tomorrow by 6.30 am, too. She has to come sleep over at my apartment since it’s closer, so she will meet up as early as possible tomorrow morning. The anyhowness of this country is top notch.”

Social media activist, Rinu Oduala, posted, “Again, why are you scheduling exams for 6.30 am, @JAMBHQ? And expect teenagers to find their ways 50km plus away from home? How can educated people make nonsensical policies for citizens and kids in this country? Does it make any sense?”

A mother, Nnem Chacha-Gold, speaking on Saturday, shared that her only daughter had to leave home at 4.30 am to make it to her exam venue by 6.30 am.

“I had to follow my daughter to her centre in Ikorodu from Ejigbo. When I got there, they said we (parents) were not welcome at the centre. I even learnt that candidates slept outside their centres to meet up. I can’t imagine my own child sleeping on the street overnight just to meet up. Goodness!”

In another case, a young female candidate, 16-year-old Esther Oladele, reportedly got lost on her way to her centre.

A man on X, Richard (@Rickson_), who identified himself as her brother, said she left Ajah for Epe on Thursday, April 24, but mistakenly boarded the wrong bus.

Richard mentioned that no one had heard from her for nearly 24 hours and shared a message she sent to their sister.

The message read, “It’s been almost 24 hours since we haven’t heard from my sister. She was going to Epe from Ajah around 1 pm yesterday (Thursday) for her UTME. The last message she sent to us reads thus: ‘I’m scared. I think I entered the wrong car, and my eyes are itchy. E be like say I want to sleep.'”

The situation prompted many X users to spread the information and alert the authorities to help find the missing girl.

After nearly 48 hours, Richard returned to X to announce that Esther had been found in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.

A photo of Esther showed her wearing shabby clothing, and parts of her hair appeared disheveled.

The update stated, “We are overjoyed to share that Esther is home safe and sound! Words cannot express our gratitude to everyone who played a part in bringing her back. Your reposts, prayers, and unwavering support gave us strength and hope throughout this difficult time. We are eternally grateful for the kindness and compassion of our community.”

Addressing the issue of impersonation, Benjamin lamented the persistence of malpractice despite the Board’s efforts to ensure a clean examination process.

He pointed out that while other countries successfully conduct centralised exams remotely, Nigeria’s current circumstances make such practices impossible.

“If Nigerians want comfort, let us behave very well. If we are transparent, we can do these CBT exams at home and submit them online. We will just send questions to them and they will answer and send them back to us. Then, we will grade and send them back the results,” Benjamin said. “But, you know what will happen if we try to do that. Several countries are doing their central examinations from home. But, can we do that in Nigeria?”

Benjamin also clarified that the 2025 UTME starts at 8 am daily, not at 6 am or 6.30 am as many have misunderstood.

During an interview on Saturday, Benjamin explained that while candidates should arrive by 6.30 am for pre-exam procedures, the actual examination does not commence until 8am.

“Our exams (UTME) start at 8 am. There is no exam by 6 am or 6.30 am,” Benjamin said. “If you are flying today and your exam is by 8 am, you are advised to be at the airport an hour or so before that time.

“There is no examination at 6.30 am. All exams start at 8 o’clock, but no one is expected to stroll to the examination hall by 8 am without any pre-examination checks. We do this to guide these candidates.”

He emphasized that if the exam time were simply announced as 8 am, many candidates would arrive late.

“Once we tell them the examination is by 8 am, they will show up at 8.30 am or 10 am and start telling us cock and bull stories. I know a reasonable number of them will come late even if it is fixed at 12 pm,” he added.

Responding to concerns about candidates needing to set out early, Benjamin stated that daybreak in Nigeria typically occurs around 6 am, making early travel feasible.

“In any case, 6.30 am anywhere in Nigeria is daybreak. I came out today at 6 am, and it was as bright as anything. But I need to stress that the examination is not at 6 am. The first session of our exams starts at 8 am.

“But candidates are expected to be at the centre from 6.30 am. Some of them still come by 7 am or 7.30 am. But if you come to that centre 30 minutes late, you won’t sit the examination because they must have done some preliminaries that you won’t be able to do.”

Regarding the issue of distant centres, Benjamin maintained that JAMB has made arrangements to ensure candidates do not travel excessively.

“Do they want JAMB to build a centre for them in their backyards so they can write the exam there?” Benjamin asked.

“This is something someone does once a year. That same person would get to the airport by 4 am if he were billed to travel to London and British Airways sets the check-in time at 4.30 am. But when they come to Nigeria, they don’t want to make any sacrifice.”

He clarified that the 6.30 am arrival time affects less than 10 per cent of candidates.

“We have four schedules in a day. There is a schedule for an exam at 8 am, another at 11 am, another at 2 pm, and there is the last one at 3pm. Within this 10 per cent, the number of candidates who would need to travel one or two kilometres to their exam centres is less than one per cent. Most of these candidates scheduled for 8 am will stroll to their centres,” he said.

Benjamin further explained that candidates select their preferred towns during registration to ensure they are assigned nearby centres.

“We have what we call examination towns. Within these towns, centres are clustered. Candidates are at liberty to choose their examination towns. If you are on the mainland of Lagos, there are many exam towns in that region. The way it is designed, we look at centres that are close to the towns these candidates have chosen, and we fix them in a nearby centre. It is a matter of proximity.”

He added, “We know the transport system in Lagos is clumsy, but there is no town that is so far away from the centre that the candidate is going to write from. It is assumed by JAMB that the candidate has chosen a centre closest to them. We have put measures in place so that candidates don’t travel more than 1km to sit the examination. We quite understand the security situation. We don’t have centres built for everybody.”

Benjamin expressed hope that as Nigeria develops, the examination process will become even more convenient for candidates.

“When we develop like Qatar, Singapore and other developed countries, we will have centres for everyone,” he said.

In Adamawa, parents of candidates who sat for the UTME at the Modibbo Adama University CBT centre demanded the cancellation of the exam due to disruptions from a power outage.

The parents staged a protest at the centre on Friday, angry that the generator failed and left candidates stranded mid-examination.

Reports indicated that candidates were stuck for over 30 minutes after logging into the system, with their exam time still running.

One parent, Peter Vandu, said his daughter could not complete her examination because of the outage.

He described the incident as deeply unfair and called for JAMB to cancel all results from the affected session.

“We cannot allow our children’s future to be jeopardised because of negligence. My daughter was in the middle of her exam when everything shut down. JAMB must cancel the exercise at this centre and reschedule it, or we will seek legal redress,” Vandu said.

Other parents echoed similar frustrations and threatened legal action if the affected results were not annulled and rescheduled.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Examination Bodies assured JAMB of support to overcome challenges in administering the UTME nationwide.

During an oversight visit to monitor the UTME in some centres within the Federal Capital Territory, the Committee’s Chairman, Oboku Oforji, pledged continued backing for the Board.

A statement from the committee quoted Oforji as describing the UTME as a tool helping young Nigerians in their journey towards self-discovery.

“To me and the committee, we are very proud of what JAMB is doing. Seeing what they are doing today gives us hope for our country,” Oforji said.

However, Oforji pointed out issues at some centres, such as a lack of air conditioning and the absence of basic first aid services.

The committee also noted problems like poor ventilation in exam halls and the absence of medical staff to handle emergencies.