JAMB suspends two officials, bans candidates for COVID-19 breach

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has suspended two of its staff and banned two candidates from its processes for violating precautionary measures to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the weekly bulletin of the board published on JAMB’s website on Monday, “their suspension followed a surprise visit by the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede to the Professional Testing Centre”.

It stated that “the four individuals ran foul of the protocols when they refused to wear protective face masks provided to curtail the spread of the virus.”

The board said it had circulated series of advisories containing explicit instructions on the necessity of adhering to extant protocols.

“These advisories were not only aimed at mitigating the risk of contagion for individual staff but also to safeguard the lives of their fellow staff,” it added.

The Board, in a statement, asserted that “the suspension became necessary in order to send the right signal to all staff and clients alike that it will not tolerate any act that would expose people to unnecessary risks.

“The punitive action also underscored the seriousness with which the Board views adherence to COVID-19 protocols”.

The statement added that “the concerned staff would face the Board’s Disciplinary Committee. In addition, the Head of the Office under whose supervision the staff was working would also be queried for negligence and dereliction of duty for failure to adequately supervise the affected staff.

“All staff nationwide that the Board would not tolerate any violation of the extant protocols on COVID-19 and those supervisory officers would also be held responsible for non-enforcement and non-compliance of staff who circumvent laid-down rules and regulations.

“All the measures put in place to protect staff from unnecessary exposure to the virus are all user-friendly and wondered why anyone would want to expose him or herself and others to the virus.”

It also enjoined all Directors, State Coordinators, and Heads of Units to ensure strict compliance of both staff and clients.