The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has confirmed the arrest and ongoing prosecution of no fewer than 40 individuals for impersonation during the ongoing 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), even as public outrage continues to grow over the early resumption time and the far-flung locations assigned to many candidates.
According to the examination body, the 2025 UTME, which commenced nationwide on Thursday, April 24 and will run until Monday, May 5, has recorded over 2 million candidates participating across accredited Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres. However, the exercise has not been without controversy.
While the board continues its clampdown on malpractice, many parents and guardians have taken to both traditional and social media platforms to criticise what they describe as unreasonable demands being placed on young candidates, particularly the 6:30am reporting time and distant centres that require some candidates to begin their journeys as early as 4am.
One distraught mother, who resides in Awoyaya, Lagos, expressed deep concern about her 14-year-old son who was posted to a centre in Ikorodu—several kilometres away. She lamented that without a private vehicle, and in the absence of public transport options at that hour, it would be near impossible for her son to arrive on time.
“This is wickedness,” she said. “JAMB should look into this. 6:30am is too early for a child to be out on the road, especially in a city like Lagos.”
Her frustration was echoed by numerous Nigerians on X (formerly Twitter), with many sharing similar experiences. One user, Olaoluwa Yinka, said his younger sister was sent from Abeokuta to Ijebu Igbo for an exam scheduled for 6:30am. Another user, Lucas Oluwadare, noted that his own sister had to sleep over at his apartment to ensure she could arrive early, describing the situation as a reflection of “the anyhowness” in the country.
Activist Rinu Oduala also weighed in, questioning the logic behind assigning teenagers to centres over 50km from home and expecting them to report at dawn. She slammed the decision as irrational and inconsiderate of the realities faced by ordinary citizens.
Another mother, Nnem Chacha-Gold, told reporters she had to escort her daughter from Ejigbo to Ikorodu at 4:30am. On arrival, they were told that parents were not allowed near the centre, and she learned some students had slept outside to avoid missing their exams. “I cannot imagine my child sleeping on the street just to write an exam,” she said.
The dangers of such early morning travel were highlighted in the disturbing case of Esther Oladele, a 16-year-old candidate who went missing after boarding the wrong vehicle while travelling from Ajah to Epe for her UTME. Her brother shared a troubling message she sent before going out of contact: “I’m scared. I think I entered the wrong car, and my eyes are itchy. E be like say I want to sleep.” She was eventually found nearly 48 hours later in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, disoriented and visibly unkempt. The incident triggered an outpouring of concern online and a frantic digital search that ultimately led to her rescue.
Amidst the public backlash, JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, clarified that the UTME examination itself starts at 8:00am—not 6:00am or 6:30am, as widely misunderstood. He explained that the 6:30am reporting time is merely for pre-examination formalities such as biometric verification and candidate briefing. According to him, this early check-in is critical to avoid late arrivals which have previously disrupted sessions.
“Our exams start at 8am. There is no exam scheduled for 6am or 6:30am,” Benjamin stated. “But candidates must arrive at the centre by 6:30am to complete all necessary procedures. If you arrive 30 minutes late, you won’t be allowed to write the exam.”
He also addressed complaints about long-distance allocations, suggesting that while some centres may seem far, assigning candidates is based on available capacity and efforts to distribute candidates across functioning CBT facilities.
Benjamin further noted that while advanced countries now conduct similar assessments remotely, Nigeria’s environment and the prevailing lack of exam integrity make such innovation currently impractical. He stressed that, “If Nigerians want comfort, let us behave well. If we were transparent, we could write these exams from home like they do in other places.”
He also dismissed concerns about early travel in darkness, arguing that daybreak in most parts of Nigeria begins around 6am, providing ample daylight for travel.
Still, for many Nigerian families, particularly those without private transport or living in underserved areas, the logistical demands of UTME continue to feel like a burden. With impersonation, unsafe travel, and inconvenient centre assignments dominating the headlines, calls are growing for JAMB to overhaul its scheduling and logistical framework to better reflect the needs and safety of young candidates.
