A lawyer, Johnmary Maduakolam has asked the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, and the management of the Board to tender an apology to the Anambra Studnet, Ejikeme Mmesoma who the exam body accused of manually inflating her 2023 UTME result.
Maduakolam said should JAMB fail to apologies to Mmesoma, he will sue the board.
According to the lawyer in a letter addressed to Oloyede, Mmesoma was incapable of forging her own results. He also accused JAMB of failing to protect the identity of the girl.
He said, “I am Chief Johnmary Akachukwu Maduakolam, a legal practitioner and the President of Johnmary Akachukwu Maduakolam Initiative for Education which is a pet project with a special interest in education and holistic development of the young person.
“I am shocked to read from the media a circular issued by one Mr. Fabian Benjamin on behalf of JAMB, accusing one Ms. Mmesoma Ejikeme, a minor and a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School Nnewi, Anambra State of faking JAMB scores to curry favour from unsuspecting philanthropists. By that publication, JAMB, under your watch, defamed the poor girl, exposed her to public opprobrium, and most especially failed to discharge its duty to the girl child under the Child’s Right Act.”
The board on Sunday night accused Mmesoma of inflating her result and announcing herself as the top scorer for the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The exam body said the 16-year-old student, who was widely celebrated for scoring the highest mark of 362 in the UTME, actually scored 249 in the just-concluded exam.
JAMB said the student increased her score to attract a N3m scholarship from Innoson Motors and was set to be awarded by the Anambra state government before she was exposed.
“The most pathetic of them all is the case of Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, who claimed to have scored 362 in the 2023 UTME and was awarded a N3m scholarship by Chief (Dr.) Innocent Chukwuma. She was even set to be honoured by the Anambra State Government when one of its top officials put a call through to JAMB to confirm her claim only for the Board to reveal that Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma had actually scored 249 and not 362 she claimed. She had manipulated her UTME result to deceive the public to fraudulently obtain a scholarship and other recognitions,” JAMB said.
Maduakolam in the letter said, “Paradoxically, information available in the media strongly suggests that JAMB, and not the poor girl, is culpable of dishing out fake results but even if the girl forged her results, the law affords her some protection as a child in the circumstance.
“Sequel to the above, I hereby request your good self, on her behalf, to retract forthwith the malicious publication made against the child, tender an unreserved apology to her and take steps to ensure that the trauma your conduct caused is cushioned immediately.
“Kindly note if you fail, neglect or refuse to harken to my demands for the welfare of the child, I shall drag you to a court and you shall bear its cost.”
Meanwhile, JAMB in a statement issued on Tuesday, barred Ejikeme Mmesoma from sitting the board’s examination for the next three years considering “the weighty infraction” she committed.
