The death of two candidates in a fatal road accident on their way to sit the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Oyo State has stirred a wave of grief and anger nationwide, with fresh questions raised over the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board’s (JAMB) exam logistics and distant postings.
The tragic scene, captured in a viral video, showed the wreckage and lifeless bodies, as voices (in Yoruba language) in the background lamented the loss of young lives simply trying to take an exam.
Video of the accident went viral on social media after JAMB, in a statement on Saturday, challenged the public to provide proof that candidates were posted outside their selected examination towns.
While insisting that postings were made within candidates’ chosen areas, the Board’s spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin offered a financial reward for any verifiable evidence of irregular placement.
According to the statement, such proof should be sent within the next 96 hours to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) WhatsApp number, 08056003030, so that the umpire can ensure the reward is delivered. Mr Benjamin noted that the challenge is aimed at addressing the recurrent false narratives.
Fatal accident
The accident, which occurred along the Ipeba stretch of the Oyo-Ogbomoso road, involved a commercial Nissan vehicle carrying eight passengers.
According to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Oolo unit, the vehicle crashed into rocks placed as barricades by a construction company, leading to the fatal collision.
The report says that two students died on the spot, while six others sustained serious injuries and were rushed to Bowen University Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso while the remains of the deceased have been deposited at the morgue of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital.
The tragedy has further intensified online outrage over the placement of candidates in distant examination centres and the early timing of the exams.
Many parents and concerned citizens have criticised JAMB, arguing that the system puts candidates, some of them teenagers, at unnecessary risk.
Several users on X (formerly Twitter) called for a total overhaul of the board’s logistics, with some questioning why examinations are scheduled for as early as 6:30 a.m despite worsening insecurity across the country.
Examination time, distant posting
Following the incident, social media went agog with grief and criticism of JAMB over the examination timing and distant posting of candidates, which have inadvertently exposed candidates to danger.
Parents defied the board’s rule against accompanying their wards to examination centres, citing concerns over insecurity and the risks posed by the timing and distance of some examination postings.
Aside from the road crash, another notable incident was the case of a JAMB candidate who was declared missing on Thursday but was later found two days later in Ijebu-Ode.
The wave of mixed reactions on social media suggests a clear need to review the policies of the examination body and the rules guiding the conduct of the UTME.
Below are some reactions on X:
GENZ MUMMY @AdemidunAkintu1: “doubt Jamb even have a CBT centre, they make use of Tertiary institutions equipment. “We should ask them what the money they’ve been earning is used for. “No examination worth taking lives and also people should pls register around their environs. “Why interstate centre Lori jamb.”
Maruf Muhammed Esq @MarufMuhammed4: How will Jamb be fixing 6:30am as the time for sitting for exam for teenagers in this era of kidnapping and security breach?
Je Suis Broad @Broadzamani: “Thank God. Someone needs to speak sense into JAMB, this exam, is it worth risking life for? The early schedule has to change, the location has to be closer to the students area. Abeg, no be everybody go use education survive o. Make unna no go kpai person pikin.”
Oluwaseun @Oluwaseun: “Jamb is very useless and should be taken to court. Why on earth will they fix the exam for 6:30 a.m, where we actually don’t have enough CBT, and having to locate a far centre early in the morning will demand someone to wake up at midnight.”
Elijah Oladokun @bolasunalpha: “JAMB distraction, from their ineptitudes, so many malfunction systems, network failure in centers, posting of candidate far from their place of residence, early hour examination many candidates died as a result of accident, @JAMBHQ never posted or release press about.
Mr. Cheers @Kickflowdown: “I don’t understand JAMB, I thought candidates choose areas where they write like states and LGA? Has it changed to buying JAMB form and being sent to Zamfara like NYSC? it’s room for racketeering to pay for favorable centres. Everything is business at the expense of lives.”
Comrade Lekan Badmus @comrade_lekan1: “Last year, I wrote an article against JAMB on two factors. Placing students in a centre too far from their residence. Fixing exam for as early as 6:30 am. There is insecurity everywhere and I wonder why JAMB is subjecting these teenagers to so much rigours. Jamb needs to be sued.”
Another user @TaiwoEmmanuel_ posted: “The real issue here is the inadequate public infrastructures by each state government. Many of the facilities used are private properties (schools, churches etc). If the state government can equip the states’ schools with laptops, both the students and Jambites will benefit from it.”
Also reacting, @adeydavinci: “Please hear me out, it’s not like I’m supporting JAMB, but you can’t blame them also. The exam is venue and capacity based, it depends on the number of venues in your environment and computers available for students in that environment.”
No candidate posted outside examination town, JAMB insists
JAMB has challenged the public to provide evidence for claims that candidates were posted to CBT centres outside their chosen examination towns.
In a statement signed by Mr Benjamin, the examination body described the assertions that candidates were placed outside their preferred examination towns as “erroneous, malicious, and aimed solely at tarnishing the Board’s reputation.”
Mr Benjamin, in the statement, expressed the belief that some candidates may have misled their parents, guardians, or secondary school proprietors who then spread the misinformation.
He stated: “It is our firm belief that some parents are continually being deceived, misled, and duped by their own wards and some secondary school proprietors who continue to propagate the falsehood that JAMB assigns candidates to examination centres outside their chosen examination towns.
“Let it be unequivocally clear that at the time of registration, candidates have the right to select their preferred examination town. JAMB subsequently assigns them to a centre within that chosen town. The baseless assertion that candidates are placed in towns different from their selections is erroneous, malicious, and aimed solely at tarnishing the Board’s reputation. It never happens.”
Acknowledging the essence of convenience for candidates, JAMB reiterated its commitment to ensuring that candidates sit for their examinations at available CBT centres within their chosen locations.
Arrival time to centres
Responding to concerns about arrival times, JAMB compared examination logistics to air travel procedures.
Mr Benjamin said anyone who finds no fault with airlines requesting air travellers to arrive at the airport two hours before departure should equally find no fault with encouraging candidates to arrive at CBT centres 90 minutes before the commencement of their examination.
He explained that early arrival is necessary for preliminary verification before candidates begin their exams.