The Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, says effective checks have been mounted by the Federal Government against identity theft in the admission process into Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
Oloyede made this known at a press briefing over the weekend in Abuja.
According to him, the Federal Government, through the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu issued a directive mandating JAMB to transfer candidates’ biometrics to their institutions of choice.
He said that the directive’s implementation would end fresh capturing of biometrics and pictures of candidates for post-UTME tests.
Oloyede said that Adamu’s directive had already uncovered 657 cases of candidates whose photographs could not match the ones recorded in JAMB’s database but were currently angling to change the photographs.
Oloyede said that the board had subsequently referred those who requested for change of photographs to come down to its headquarters.
He said that the intention was to bring perpetrators of fraud to book.
”In previous admission exercises, certain candidates who appear in the institution for registration were different from those who actually sit the examination.
“This was possible because the institutions were taking fresh pictures and biometrics, thereby making it possible for impersonators to have a field day to ply their trade.
“In the last exercise, we insisted, as directed by the Minister of Education, that all institutions should use the already captured biometrics and pictures by the Board.
“This made it impossible for the candidates whose examinations were taken on their behalf by professional examination takers to gain admissions,”he said.
Oloyede said that the implementation of the directive had led to the arrest of one Etim Israel, a Police Constable, who was paraded before newsmen on allegation of examination malpractice.