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Four suspects facing trial at the Federal High Court, Akure, Ondo State, who were apprehended during the registration for 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and examination infractions, are to remain in detention till November 2023 when the court would rule on their counsel bail applications.
The suspects are to spend two more months in custody pending when the court reconvenes from its vacation which starts on July 21, 2023, to October. Three suspects arraigned for infractions during the UTME registration and are: Timilehin Akinwale, Olayinka Mustapha and Peter Okereke, while Feranmi Adesuyi was arraigned for impersonation.
When the matter came up for hearing on July 12, 2023, an official of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Ms. Smith Oseinat Ayodele, told the court that Adesuyi was arrested for impersonation during the examination.
According to her, Adesuyi committed the said offence on April 28, 2023, at Amable Nigeria Computer Based Test Centre, Owo, during the 2023 UTME.
Smith told the court that she served as the Biometric Verification Registration Officer at the centre while testifying as a prosecution witness.
She informed the court that Adesuyi approached her to verify his fingerprint before proceeding to sit for the examination but observed that the picture displayed on the screen of the computer was different from that of Adesuyi.
“He was looking different from the picture uploaded on the JAMB portal. I questioned him and he insisted that he was the same person on the screen. I asked him yet again but he was adamant. Since, I wasn’t making any headway with him, I asked him to step aside.
“I then called the attention of other exam officials and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel attached to the centre. They also confirmed my position that the face on the screen was different from that of Feranmi. After intense questioning, he later confessed that he was actually at the centre to impersonate another candidate.” Ayodele had subsequently tendered the statement she wrote at the NSCDC Ondo State Command Office that aided in the arrest of the suspect. Since, the defence counsel did not oppose the tendering of the statement of Prosecution Witness 1 (PW1), the statement was admitted as Exhibit ‘A’. She was also examined in evidence but there was no cross-examination by the defence counsel.
The prosecuting counsel, Moses Osimen, applied for the leave of the court to set a date to enable him to call more witnesses.The Presiding Judge, Justice T. B. Adegoke, reserved ruling on the bail application by the defence counsel and said the date would be communicated to both parties in the suit.
In the case of impersonation involving Okereke Peters and two others, the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Moses Osime, and Mr. T.O.Gbadebo told the court that they had a witness in court while the counsel to the first defendant, Peters, equally told the court that he was ready for trial but the counsel representing the second and third defendants, Mr. Peter Ujah, informed the court that he was not ready for trial on the ground that his office was just recently briefed on the matter and was only served a day before the case came up for hearing. According to him, the initial proof of evidence served on the former counsel, who had been representing the 2nd and 3rd defendant, did not hand over the proof of evidence that the prosecuting counsel had served him and only received same the previous day. Justice Adegoke then adjourned the case till November 13th, 2023, for ruling on the bail application for the three suspects.
