Scores of candidates who were to sit for this year’s Joint Admission and Matriculation Board’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination in Jos, the capital of Plateau State on Wednesday escaped death after policemen opened fire on them during a protest at JAMB’s office in Jos.
The UTME which is entirely computer-based test (CBT) will commence on March and end on MArch 21, JAMB said.
The policemen were called to maintain order when the candidates became restive because their examination slips were not released by the examination body.
It was learnt that the authorities were overwhelmed by the number of students, who converged on the office, coupled with the slow pace of processing of the information.
The students were said to have become restive when their examination details appeared not to be in sight.
In the confusion that ensued, the officials closed their offices and asked the candidates to come back on Thursday.
At this juncture, the applicants we said to have started smashing doors and windows of the offices.
The policemen were said to have fired gunshots in the air to disperse the candidates.
One of the candidates, who identified herself as Kemi, expressed dismay at the development, saying the officials were endangering the applicants’ lives.
She faulted JAMB for choosing its office as the only centre to get the information instead of decentralising the process.
She said many students might have been knocked down by motorists fleeing from the gunshots.
She said, “The huge number of candidates at the office is enough to attract any suicide bomber and in the event of any such incident, the casualties would be monumental.”
Police Public Relations Officer, Plateau State Police Command, Emmanuel Abuh, told our correspondent that the police were called in to maintain law and order after the candidates became riotous.
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