A 16-year-old UTME candidate, Chizitere Obioha, has accused an invigilator, Mutiu Olayemi, of sexually harassing her during the April 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Lagos. This accusation comes amid claims that her result was deliberately withheld after she rejected the invigilator’s advances.
Chizitere, in a formal petition to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions, narrated how the invigilator, Olayemi, approached her during the exam at the Wisdom House CBT Centre in Ogba, Lagos, requesting her phone number, which she refused to provide. Shockingly, after the examination, her result was withheld, and she was accused of examination malpractice.
The candidate’s father, Onyebuchi Obioha, took swift action, petitioning the Senate for intervention, alleging that his daughter was being punished for rejecting Olayemi's advances.
“We are certain our daughter is being punished for a crime she didn’t commit,” Mr. Obioha declared in his petition.
According to Mr. Obioha, Chizitere returned from the examination on April 22, 2024, with a small piece of paper handed to her by the invigilator. The note contained Olayemi’s phone number, with instructions for her to call him after the exam. Chizitere immediately handed the note to her father, who called the number to confront the invigilator.
"I called him and asked why he gave his number to a 16-year-old girl, but he denied it and hung up," Mr. Obioha recounted.
The invigilator’s actions did not stop there, as Chizitere’s mother also called the number to warn him to stay away from her daughter. Both parents reported that Olayemi cut the call and refused to apologize or acknowledge his behavior, prompting the family to take the matter to the Senate.
The family’s petition claims that Chizitere’s result was withheld after the incident, with JAMB citing examination malpractice as the reason, a charge they firmly deny.
“My daughter did not engage in any malpractice. This is retaliation for rejecting the invigilator’s advances,” Mr. Obioha asserted.
In his defense, the accused invigilator, Olayemi, has vehemently denied the allegations. In a phone interview with journalists, he admitted to being a supervisor at the examination center but insisted that he did not give his phone number to any candidate.
“I didn’t ‘toast’ anyone during the examination or hand over any piece of paper. I’m already in Abuja to defend myself as directed by JAMB,” Olayemi said, distancing himself from the malpractice report as well, claiming it was written by the Resident Monitor.
As the scandal unfolds, Chizitere’s family is demanding justice, calling for an immediate investigation into the case and for their daughter’s result to be released. The Senate Committee is now expected to probe the disturbing allegations.
