JAMB sanctions officials for asking candidate to remove her hijab

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that it has sanctioned some of its accredited officials for demanding that a hijab-wearing candidate at Saturday’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination must remove her hijab. 

It was alleged that some JAMB officials at an exam center in Lagos, insisted that the candidate removed her hijab before being allowed in. 

Announcing the sanction, the exam body said in a statement; 

“The Board deeply regrets the incident and, on an investigation, discovered, that this particular incident, or others in the past, is not linked to any of its examination guidelines.

“It was rather a product of the misplaced priority of some of the accredited partners or officials who claimed ignorance of the Board’s guidelines on accreditation.

“The guidelines ensure that all candidates are screened, allowing only female officials to screen female candidates before allowing them to gain entrance into the hall.

“The situation was instantly addressed by a senior official of the Board at the centre and the candidate in question was allowed in after the usual checks with her hijab.

“Since ignorance of the law is not an excuse, the officials have been sanctioned to serve as a deterrent to others.’’

JAMB’s Public Communication Advisor, Dr Fabian Benjamin also said the officials acted in ignorance as JAMB had no policy barring candidates from wearing the religious paraphernalia peculiar to their faith.