The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, or JAMB, has come under fire from an organization called South East Fact Check over the Board’s recent admission that Miss Mmesoma Ejikeme of Anambra State falsified her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, or UTME, results.

While the candidate, who is a student of Anglican School, Nnewi, is holding a 362 score, JAMB has declared her result fake and forged, saying that she only scored 249.

The education body in a statement by Fabian Benjamin, the Head of Public Affairs and Protocol, said Mmesoma forged results on the JAMB site to manipulate the results she is currently parading, adding that the teenager used the alleged fake results to secure a scholarship worth 3 million naira from Innoson Motors.

But in a reaction in Umuahia, the Chairman of South East Fact Check, Mr Barry Odinkemmere described the JAMB statement as an ‘ambush’, saying that the young girl was not given a fair hearing before JAMB went to press with its report.

South East Fact Check further expressed concern at the tone applied in the statement, saying that it sounded like a premeditated plan against the candidate.

The group noted that a thorough investigation should have been concluded on the matter to determine who is saying the truth, as according to the group, JAMB by its statement, had already admitted that something is wrong with its result portal.

“How can you arrive at this conclusion without a final, thorough and independent investigation?

“This girl, from our findings, has maintained first position from her primary school days.

“If there is a problem of credibility on the JAMB results portal, who should take the blame- is it not JAMB?

“Why will they crucify a poor brilliant girl on the altar of wickedness”, Odinkemmere said.

He advised JAMB to allow a forensic investigation to be concluded before jumping to the media.

“If at the end of the day, the result is confirmed to be forged by the girl, then she should be prosecuted.

“But if it is discovered at the end of the day that she is the true owner, JAMB should pay her compensation with apologies and we will go to Court against them to enforce the rights of the poor girl,” the SEFC leader further said.

The group vowed to mobilize a free legal team for Mmesoma if the need arises.

The group commended Mr Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson Motors for standing with the UTME candidate, until the conclusion of independent investigations.

The South East Fact Check challenged “the Ohaneze Ndigbo led by Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu to wade into this matter immediately, to avoid persecution of our Ada Igbo.”