JAMB bars two students, sanctions staff for violating COVID-19 protocols

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has suspended two of its staff members and banned two candidates for violating precautionary measures to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus.

A statement by the Board, from its January bulletin on Monday said their suspension followed a surprising visit by JAMB Registrar Prof Ishaq Oloyede to the Professional Testing Centre.

The statement said the four persons ran foul of the protocols when they refused to wear a protective face mask provided to curtail the spread of the virus.

The board also said the suspension became necessary to send the right signal to all staff and clients alike that it will not tolerate any act that will expose people to unnecessary risks.

The sanction also underscores the seriousness with which we view adherence to COVID 19 protocols especially as pieces of washable high-quality face mask has been made available to each staff to eliminate excuses of non-compliance.

“In addition to that, alcohol-based sanitiser, hand washing facilities as well as prescribed adoption of other non-pharmaceutical measures to curb the spread of the virus in line with the protocols of the various relevant agencies of government has also been made available,

“However, the affected staff would face the Boards disciplinary committee, the Head of Office under whose supervision the staff were working would also be queried for negligence and dereliction of duty,” the statement said.

The Board further restated its resolve not to tolerate any violation of the protocols on COVID-19 and those supervisory officers would be held responsible for non-enforcement and non-compliance of staff who circumvent laid down rules and regulations.

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