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A lawyer, Johnmary Maduakolam, has threatened to file a lawsuit against Prof Ishaq Oloyede, Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, and the board’s management if they do not extend an apology to Mmesoma Ejikeme, within 24 hours.
The letter was posted on Johnmary Akachukwu Maduakolam’s Twitter account on Tuesday, 4th July, 2023, which stated that Mmesoma couldn’t fake her own results. He further charged that JAMB had failed to protect the girl’s identity.
In the letter, Johnmary wrote, “I am Chief Johnmary Akachukwu Maduakolam, a legal practitioner and the President of Johnmary Akachukwu Maduakolam Initiative for Education, which is a pet project with a special interest in education and holistic development of the young person.
I am shocked to read from the media a circular issued by one Mr Fabian Benjamin on behalf of JAMB, accusing one Ms Mmesoma Ejikeme, a minor and a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School Nnewi, Anambra State of faking JAMB scores to curry favour from unsuspecting philanthropists. By that publication, JAMB, under your watch, defamed the poor girl, exposed her to public opprobrium, and most especially failed to discharge its duty to the girl child under the Child’s Right Act.”
The most pathetic of them all is the case of Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, who claimed to have scored 362 in the 2023 UTME and was awarded a N3m scholarship by Chief (Dr.) Innocent Chukwuma. She was even set to be honoured by the Anambra State Government when one of its top officials put a call through to JAMB to confirm her claim, only for the Board to reveal that Miss Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma had actually scored 249 and not 362. She claimed. She had manipulated her UTME result to deceive the public into obtaining a scholarship and other recognitions fraudulently.
Paradoxically, information available in the media strongly suggests that JAMB, and not the poor girl, is culpable of dishing out fake results, but even if the girl forged her results, the law affords her some protection as a child in the circumstance.
Sequel to the above, I hereby request your good self, on her behalf, to retract forthwith the malicious publication made against the child, tender an unreserved apology to her and take steps to ensure that the trauma your conduct caused is cushioned immediately.
Kindly note if you fail, neglect, or refuse to harken to my demands for the7 welfare of the child, I shall drag you to a court, and you shall bear its cost.”
Recall that in a statement on Sunday, JAMB charged Mmesoma Ejikeme with manually inflating her 2023 UTME result from 249 to 362. Meanwhile, she was about to be given a N3 million scholarship from Innoson Motors and also to be awarded by the Anambra state government before she was revealed.
Racheal Odimiji