From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Few weeks to the 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has entered an arrangement with the Nigerian Army to provide security in all the accredited 678 computer based test (CBT) centres across Nigeria.
Their presence, according to the Board, would ensure that candidates abide by the laid down process, before, during and after the exams, even as it listed North East and South South states as the most crisis-prone areas that required the presence of the military.
JAMB spokesman, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, in a statement yesterday, noted that the Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, secured the deal at a meeting with the military high command, led by the Chief of Army staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, at JAMB headquarters in Bwari, Abuja.
The Registrar reminded the officials of the constitutional mandate of JAMB, which is to conduct matriculation exam and place qualified candidates desirous of qualitative education into Nigerian tertiary institutions.
He added that the board was on the verge of the first process hence the need to secure the venues, candidates and exam officials.
“This need became imperative to seek for security intervention from the Army, particularly in the aforementioned turbulent areas,” he said.
Oloyede told officials that 1.5 million candidates were expected to participate in the 2017 UTME exam in the 678 CBT centres across Nigeria, as against last year’s 650 centres.
“Thus far, 1.237 million candidates have successfully submitted their application and some of them are in riverine areas. However, we have secured the assistance of the Nigeria Liquid Natural Gas (NLNG) to air-lift candidates in riverine areas to their respective CBT centres,” he said.
The Army Chief assured JAMB of the readiness and commitment of the military to grant its request.
He noted that some of the flashpoints mentioned by the registrar were not only safe but also habitable, as normalcy, particularly in the North East, has returned to the areas.
Buratai promised to give directives to the Chief of Training and Operations to liaise with officers and men on ground to strengthen security at the CBT centres and around exam officials, particularly those in volatile states.