UTME holds amid tight security in states

The Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination conducted across different states on Saturday was peaceful and hitch-free.However, the examination was conducted amid tight security as the candidates were properly scanned before entering the centres.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that in Lagos, security personnel used scanners to screen candidates at the Agidingbi Grammar School, Ikeja; Wahab Folawiyo Senior and Junior High Schools, as well as Akande Dahunsi Memorial Senior High School, all in Ikoyi.

A JAMB official, Mr Badmus Adedayo, told NAN that the Data Capture Machine used for screening the candidates had reduced to the barest minimum cases of impersonation.

In Kaduna, about 68,040 candidates wrote the examination. An official of the board in the state, Mr. Abdullahi Dalhatu said 540 candidates wrote the examination in each of the 126 centres in the state.

NAN reports that the examination was conducted under tight security provided by officers and men of the Nigerian Police as well as members of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.

In Abuja, the Peoples Democratic Party Convention almost marred the examination, as the diversion of traffic adversely affected the movement of candidates and materials to some examination centres.

Our correspondent, who went round some examination centres within the FCT, observed that the examination did not begin at 9.00am in a number of centres.

However, the verification exercise went on smoothly in other centres.

In Gombe, there was a mild drama at the Gombe State University centre when a candidate, Ahmad Usman, suddenly developed fever a few minutes into the examination.

Usman pleaded with the officials to allow his elder brother to write the examination for him.

Visibly amazed by this development, the officials of JAMB burst into laughter and started asking him questions.

One of his friends bought him two bottles of cold drinks and after 15 minutes of counselling and encouragement, Usman wrote the examination.

In Jos, four blind candidates struggled to write the UTME test following JAMB’s failure to provide the Braille question papers.

The blind candidates, who wrote the examinations at the St. Joseph’s College and Baptist High School centres, had to rely on JAMB officials to read out the questions to them.

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