How JAMB officials escaped being burnt alive in Lagos – Oloyede

Two officials of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Examination Board were attacked by unidentified persons during the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination mock exam at a centre around the Lagos State Polytechnic in Lagos State.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, confirmed the development during an interaction with reporters on Monday in Abuja.

According to him, the police have commenced investigations into the incident.

Oloyede, who led the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, to monitor the   UTME mock exam at some computer-based test centres in Abuja, said the officials would have been set ablaze but for the timely intervention of security officials at the venue.

The registrar, who said 157,000 candidates sat for the exam nationwide, added that the injured workers in Lagos were receiving treatment at a hospital.

He said, “The very first sad thing that we noticed was that two of our workers were almost murdered in Lagos. There was an attempt on their lives around the Lagos State Polytechnic. For whatever reason, they poured petrol on them and were about to set them ablaze.

“The reason for this attack cannot yet be ascertained.”

He added that 698 computer-based test centres would conduct the UTME between   April 11 and 15.

Oloyede said the board had delisted 14 CBT centres due to infractions such as technical hitches.

He said, “The centres which went to borrow computers for the exams have been stopped. We now have about 698 centres left.”