The 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) tales of woes continues to unveil as candidates went on rampage following a technical glitch at a centre in Ibadan, Oyo State, that disrupted their examination.
The incident which took place on Friday, April 25, at the Abimbola Excel School, Elesin, in the Amuloko area along Akanran Road, Ona Ara Local Government Area, saw frustrated candidates venting their anger on the malfunctioned computers.
According to eyewitness accounts, the candidates, who had been waiting anxiously for hours, lost their cool after repeated system failures which prevented the scheduled UTME from holding.
Read also: 2025 UTME: Students, parents lament delays, last-minute centre changes frustrations
Despite several attempts by the centre operators to rectify the issue, the technical problems persisted, leaving hundreds of candidates stranded and restless.
The frustrated candidates were seen venting their anger on the facilities at the centre destroying plastic chairs, computers, and several other facilities.
Meanwhile, more candidates have condemned the poor conduct of the 2025 UTME so far. Anifowose Oluwasemilore, decried the manner the Physics paper was conducted during the examination, calling on JAMB to urgently address the issue.
“JAMB Physics questions were incomplete. This should surely be addressed,” Oluwasemilore said.
Read also: JAMB delists 5 CBT centres, arrests 27 impersonators, warns against unauthorized restrictions
According to Oluwasemilore, some Physics questions appeared incomplete meaning candidates were not given full information needed to answer correctly.
Another candidate, Yakubu Rashidat, shared her experience at her examination centre, raising concerns about the accuracy and fairness of the examination process.
“We had 55 English questions instead of 60 at my center. Even out of the 55 questions, 10 were without questions, only options were provided,” she said.
“Candidates were given only 55 questions in English Language instead of the usual 60 questions. Even among the 55 questions available, 10 had no actual questions only the answer options were displayed without any guiding statement,” she added.
This created confusion for candidates, leaving them unsure about how to answer or whether to even attempt those questions.
Some concerned Nigerians are worried that this could cause unnecessary failure for candidates who would have performed better under normal conditions.
Read also: Senate pledges ICT centres in 774 LGAs to boost UTME access
Officials of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) are yet to issue a formal statement regarding the incident. However, a security source at the scene revealed that police officers were later deployed to the centre to restore calm and prevent further destruction.
This incident adds to the growing concerns about the conduct of the UTME across various centres in Nigeria.
Technical failures, poor coordination, and inadequate infrastructure have been recurring complaints among candidates, raising questions about JAMB’s preparedness for such a large-scale digital examination.
Affected candidates are now anxiously awaiting new directives from JAMB regarding the rescheduling of their examinations. Many have called on the examination body to ensure that such embarrassing occurrences are prevented in the future to safeguard the integrity of the examination process and protect the interests of candidates.
