Dr. Oladoyin Odebowale, the Senior Special Assistant for Special Duties & Strategy to Governor Akeredolu of Ondo State, has issued a plea to newspaper companies, requesting them to refrain from publishing the photograph of the Anambra student accused of manipulating her UTME scores.
In support of his appeal, Dr. Odebowale emphasized that the student in question is a minor.
He further expressed concerns that certain unscrupulous adults might resort to similar actions in order to deceive unsuspecting benefactors.
“Please refrain from publishing the pictures of the Jamb candidate who is purported to have inflated her examination score,” Dr. Odebowale wrote on his Facebook page this past Sunday.
“She is a minor. Some mindless adults would have done it to dupe unsuspecting donors.”
“She must be protected,” he added.
The Naija News reported that JAMB addressed the widespread media coverage celebrating certain candidates as high achievers in the 2023 UTME.
The board clarified that many of these reported results were fraudulent, with candidates using software tools to manipulate their scores and deceive the unsuspecting public.
“One particularly disheartening case involved Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, who claimed to have achieved a score of 362 in the 2023 UTME and received a N3 million scholarship from Chief (Dr.) Innocent Chukwuma,” the examining body said in a statement.
When an official from the Anambra State Government contacted JAMB to verify her claim, the board exposed Miss Ejikeme’s actual score as 249, not the 362 she had fraudulently asserted.
She had fabricated her UTME result to obtain scholarships and other forms of recognition through deception.
