Despite Missing Student Incident, JAMB Again Fixes UTME Resits for 6AM

The safety of students writing the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) has been scrutinised following fresh reports of early morning exam schedules for resitting candidates.

An X post by user @nzemili revealed that some candidates have been directed to resit the UTME as early as 6:00 a.m.

So, my cousins who were affected by the JAMB just told me that they were told to come resit for the JAMB tomorrow at 6:00 AM. I’ve never understood this level of wickedness in my entire existence”, the post read.

The new development follows JAMB’s admission that 379,997 candidates in Lagos and the five South East states were affected by technical glitches during the 2025 UTME. Specifically, 206,610 candidates were impacted across 65 centres in Lagos, while 173,387 were affected in 92 centres in the Owerri zone, which covers the five South East states.

On Monday, JAMB Registrar, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, dramatically broke down in tears as he publicly apologised to candidates and their parents. He described the situation as regrettable and assured the public that efforts were being made to address the issues.

In response, JAMB announced makeup exams scheduled for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this week. It also assured that any candidates with timetable clashes would be promptly rescheduled.

However, the decision to set reporting times as early as 6:30 a.m. –  and in some cases, 6:00 a.m. – has sparked serious safety concerns. This arrangement requires vulnerable teenagers to leave their homes around 4:00 or 5:00 a.m., especially for those assigned to distant centres.

Although JAMB maintains that the examination starts at 8:00 a.m., it explained that early verification and clearance processes begin at 6:30 a.m. to ensure proper coordination. Still, this has not eased student safety concerns, particularly amid Nigeria’s poor road infrastructure and rising insecurity.

Those concerns were further validated last month when a female candidate, Esther Oluwafayofunmi Oladele, was declared missing while en route from Epe to her exam centre in Ajah, Lagos. She had sent her sibling a distress message on the morning of her exams: “I’m scared. I think I entered the wrong car. My eyes are itchy and I feel sleepy.” The case sparked alarm on social media and was reported to the Ajiwe Police Station. She was eventually found safe.

Several parents have also raised concerns about candidates being posted to far and unfamiliar locations for UTME. Asking vulnerable teenagers to travel across unsafe terrain at early hours reflects poorly on the examination body.

Read: From Snake Swallowing ₦36m to UTME Technical Glitch: Pressure Mounts for JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede to Resign

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