Breach of COVID-19 Protocols: JAMB Suspends Staff, Bans Two Candidates

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has suspended two of its staff and banned two candidates from its processes for violating precautionary measures to mitigate the spread of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Nigeria in the last four weeks has witnessed an upsurge in COVID-19 infections with more than 1,000 cases on a daily basis.

Their suspension followed a surprise visit by the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Professor Is-haq Oloyede to the Professional Testing Centre (PTC). The four individuals ran foul of the protocols as they refused to wear protective face masks provided to curtail the spread of the virus, a report in the latest edition of JAMBulletin confirmed.

 The report in the weekly publication of the Office of the JAMB Registrar stated.reads, “It would be recalled that the Board 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."

According to the Board, 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 view adherence to COVID-19 protocols. The statement also reiterated the fact that the Board had, among other measures, made available pieces of washable high quality face masks to each staff to eliminate excuses for non-compliance and in addition, the Board provides alcohol-based sanitisers, hand washing facilities as well as prescribed the adoption of other non- pharmaceutical measures to curb the spread of the virus in line with the prescriptions of the various relevant agencies of government.

The concerned staff according to the report  would face the Board’s Disciplinary Committee. Also, the Head of the Office under whose supervision the staff were working would also be queried for negligence and dereliction of duty for failure to adequately supervise the affected staff.