UTME Candidates to be moved to Ilorin Over LAUTECH Students’ Protest

According to the Fabian Benjamin, The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, on Monday said it will move candidates of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, scheduled to write their examination at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH in Ogbomoso, to Ilorin, due to students’ protest. UTME candidates scheduled to use the LAUTECH campus Computer Based Test (CBT) centre were on Monday prevented from gaining entrance inside the premises by protesting students of the institution. The students had mobilised themselves as early as 6.00 a.m. for the protest and stationed themselves in teams across all entrances into the institution. Reacting, JAMB spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin disclosed that the board was concluding arrangements to reschedule the exams for the affected candidates at Ilorin. “We will reschedule them. Even though it’s not our problem, it’s the school’s problem, but they are our candidates. There is no private centre in Ogbomosho and the closest centre to Ogbomosho is Ilorin”, he told Premium Times. “This disruption happened today and we need to do some technical arrangements first. “So, no date has been fixed yet. But we are going to write the exams in Ilorin except if LAUTECH resolves the students' unrest”, he added. In the meantime, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is’haq Oloyede, says no fewer than 440,000 candidates have sat for the 2017 UTME within two days across the country. Oloyede told newsmen in Abuja on Monday that the exams would end in Bauchi, Abia, Niger states and some other states on May 15 while the UTME would continue in Kebbi state, Lagos state, Oyo and some other states.