Johnmary Maduakolam, a lawyer, has issued a warning that he will take legal action against Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, and the management if they do not apologise to Mmesoma Ejikeme, an Anambra student who was accused by JAMB of increasing her UTME results.
The lawyer wrote a letter to Oyolede, which was seen by a correspondent from PUNCH newspapers. In the letter, he stated that Mmesoma could not forge her own results, he also rebuked JAMB for not protecting the candidate’s identity considering that she’s a minor.
The Lawyer said “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.”
As reported by the PUNCH, JAMB issued a statement on Sunday evening alleging that Ejikeme manually increased her UTME result from 249 to 362 and leveraged the falsely increased score to secure a N3m scholarship from Innoson Motors. The Anambra State government was preparing to present her with the scholarship before the incident was discovered.
Maduakolam stated in the letter that media reports suggest that JAMB is responsible for providing fake results and not the candidate. However, even if the girl falsified her results, the law provides her with some protection as a minor in this situation.
“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.” Maduakolam added