JAMB imposes sanctions on officials who forced candidate to remove hijab during UTME – Igbere TV

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, on Sunday announced that some of its accredited officials have been punished for preventing a hijab-wearing female UTME candidate from entering the examination hall wearing her head covering.

In a statement by JAMB’s Public Communications Advisor, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, the examination body rejected any policy that prohibits candidates from wearing religious objects related to their faith.

The statement, which was in response to publications on some news platforms titled “Re: Lagos Center stops hijab-wearing candidates as UTME commences,” said the incident was immediately resolved when the female candidate was allowed to sit for the UTME wearing her hijab.

JAMB further clarified that the affected officials acted in ignorance, which is unacceptable as ignorance of the law does not pardon the law.

It was stated that about 1.2 million candidates would have taken the UTME 2024 by Monday, April 22.

“It is worth noting that the board, as a national institution, has no policy that prevents candidates from wearing religious paraphernalia inherent to their religious beliefs as these are the facts of everyday life in Nigeria that everyone should already be familiar with are. now,” the statement added