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There was a mild drama in Ibadan on Thursday when a candidate slated for Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, was denied entry to sit for the examination.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Thursday at Esther Oshinkoya Computer Based Centre, Eleyele Road in Ibadan.
DAILY POST reports that UTME which is being conducted by Joint Matriculation Examination Board (JAMB) commenced Thursday across the country.
However, in Ibadan, a candidate was denied access into the examination venue by an official of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC
for wearing Hijab.
This led to arguments between the parents and some officials at the venue.
It was learnt that the NSCDC official told the student to remove her Hijab, but the order was described as unlawful by the concerned parents.
It, however, took the intervention of some stakeholders to restore normalcy at the examination centre.
A parent who spoke on the condition of anonymity expressed his displeasure over the conduct of the NSCDC official.
He said, “This is to urgently alert the public, Muslim community, JAMB authorities, and human rights bodies about an ongoing violation happening right now. Candidates wearing Hijab are being compelled to remove their hijab before being allowed to sit for their JAMB exams at this centre. This is a direct violation of the candidates’ constitutional right to freedom of religion and JAMB’s own guidelines that permit hijab during examinations”.
But, Public Communication Adviser of JAMB, Dr Fabian Benjamin, when contacted noted that the examination body has intervened in the case.
He told DAILY POST that the candidate has been allowed to sit for the examination and that the officer has been called to order.
Benjamin in a telephone conversation with DAILY POST on Thursday noted that the examination body does not discriminate against anyone irrespective of their religion.
He said “We have given a clear directive that on no account should any candidate who is dressed in line with their religious injunction be denied any right or harassed. You know, we saw, we are monitoring the exercise from our headquarters and we saw what happened and we have called the officer to order that this is not what she is there to do. We have met top echelon of NSCDC and we suspect that the instructions were not properly cascaded to the lower echelon of the agency.
“The candidate as we speak is writing her examination, yes there was a breach on her right which is unfortunate and it is not part of our protocol. Make it clear that what the officer did is regrettable and it is not part of our protocol”.
Outrage in Ibadan as NSCDC officer denies candidate access to UTME centre [VIDEO]
