To that end, the Police had released the following individuals: Nkemakolam Okpara Felicia, female; Nduka Treasure Chiamaka, female; Adefila Olanrewaju, male; Adeola Adebayo, male; Ayodeji Ayeni, male; and Adebola Ojabodu.

Sanwo-Olu, in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso on Tuesday reiterated the need for the youth to reciprocate the Lagos State Government’s gesture by shunning further protests.

He urged them to allow the government to take steps to resolve the situation that sparked the protests.

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President Buhari, in a statement by his spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Monday, regretted that the current Covid-19 pandemic, with restrictions on movement, had made it impossible for any government delegation to be with them during the event.

According to him, he is still mindful of their welfare and their concerns, especially regarding their daughters who are still missing.

On the specific issue of the freedom for the remaining girls held by the terrorists, the President noted the ongoing efforts on two fronts:

”The armed forces of the country who are on general operations in the entire region continue in their hope that they would encounter these girls, rescue and bring them back home, as they did with thousands of other hostages.

”The nation’s security and intelligence community, in whom a lot of hope, is reposed in rescuing the abducted girls is making a lot of efforts using backroom channels to get them back to their families.

”These are processes, formal and informal that involves different groups with links to the terrorists, and are very tedious and uneasy as seen in different parts of the world.

“The issue of the Chibok girls is not a forgotten issue. We cannot go to sleep over this matter. We are optimistic that ongoing efforts will yield something positive.

”Unfortunately, an ongoing crisis within the Boko Haram leadership, which has led to factions and breakaway groups, brought a number of unforeseen challenges to the process of negotiating with the militants for the young women’s release.

”In the past few years, our armed forces have recorded huge successes in the battle against Boko Haram, but they have also been careful to ensure that as few civilian lives as possible were lost in the process. We would rather wish the young women still in captivity were freed alive.”

President Buhari also reflected on the progress being made by the freed ‘Chibok girls’, who were sponsored by his administration to study at the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, saying that ” I’m proud of what they are doing”.

He encouraged them to remain focused on their studies and on this unique opportunity that had been given to them by God, following their horrific time in captivity.

President Buhari also commended Yakubu Nkeki, Lawan Zannah and Yana Galang, the executive officials of the Association of the Parents of the Abducted Girls from Chibok, on their steadfast efforts to advocate for the welfare of the parents, the freed women, and those still in captivity.

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The Board’s Head, Media and Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in an interview with our reporter on Monday in Lagos.

Benjamin urged all concerned candidates to check their profiles for the results.

According to him, the board is optimistic that the entire exercise will be hitch-free, as it has worked assiduously to ensure that this year’s examination process will be one of the best ever conducted in recent times.

“I want to say that the Board is happy with the conduct of the examination on its first day, Saturday, March 14.

“This is not to say that we did not register one or two technical hitches.

“There is no way anyone can embark on such massive exercise without a few hitches.

“However, the good thing is that, as soon as our attention is drawn to such hitches, we tackle them immediately.

“So, the Board is fully on ground to take on these hitches as they come, but in all, I must tell you, that we are happy with the conduct of the examination so far,’’ he said.

Benjamin assured that the Board would continue to ensure quality service delivery in a bid to give every deserving candidate an opportunity to excel.

It was reported that, in continuation of the exercise, a total of 469, 670 candidates on Monday sat for the examination in various centres across the country.

The JAMB Head of Media and Information said by Tuesday, March 17, such candidates’ results would also be ready.

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Recall that the publisher of Sahara Reporters and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the February 2019 elections was arrested in the early hours of Saturday by operatives of the Department of State Services in Lagos.

The protests held on Aug. 5 in some states of the federation, with security agencies arresting some protesters.

While Sowore was moved to Abuja on Sunday and currently being detained in the custody of the DSS, 26 other protesters have been arraigned in a Lagos court.

NLC General Secretary, Dr Peter Ozo-Eson in a statement on Wednesday said the right to peaceful protests, assembly and association is fully guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under sections 39 and 40.

According to him, the NLC view the violent attack on the peaceful protesters by security forces as a total violation of their fundamental rights as guaranteed by the constitution.

“Besides, peaceful protests against perceived anti-people government policies is one of the critical fundamental rights that expands the entrenchment and growth of democracy.

“Sowore and other protesters were not carrying arms against the state and we therefore demand their immediate release unconditionally.”

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Franklin, who made University of Lagos his first choice, scored 347 and may not be admitted because of his age.

Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), disclosed this at a news conference to announce the release of the results in Abuja on Saturday.

Emmanuel Chidebube, a 16-year-old boy from Abia came second with a score of 346, while Isaac Olamide, a 17-year-old from Osun came third with 345.

In all 2,906 candidates scored over 300 as against 4,683 in 2018.

According to Oloyede, 57,579 candidates scored between 250 and 299 as against 64,120 in the 2018 results.

Oloyede said 366,757 candidates also scored between 200 and 249, which is a significant improvement from the 2018 results.

“361,718 candidates scored between 180 and 199 as against 325,152 in 2018, while 494,484 scored between 160 and 179 as against 455,898 last year.

“410,844 candidates scored between 140 and 159 as against 346,825 recorded in 2018 while also 99,463 scored between 100 and 139 as against 64,712 in 2018.”

The registrar said that about 1,792,719 candidates sat for the exams, while 34,120 candidates had their results withheld for examination malpractice.

Oloyede stated that 15,145 results were withheld for further clarification.

The registrar, therefore, advised candidates to use the phone number used for registration and text it to 55019 to get their results instantly.

Oloyede identified a lot of infractions from candidates and Computer Based Centres (CBT) owners ranging from multiple registration, manipulation of biometrics and deliberate destruction of power sources during the examination.

“No doubt, examination malpractice is a cankerworm that has eaten deeply not only into Nigeria but also the rest of the world, especially the developed countries such as the USA and U.K.

“In Nigeria too, examination malpractice is exacerbated by the insatiable greed and desperate antics of parents, who are hell-bent on inducting their innocent and not-so-innocent children into the world of sharp practices and corruption.

“Double registrations led to the cancellation of some results last year, but we realised that this year not only double registrations but also multiple registrations were recorded.

“Someone for instance registered as many as 23 times for just a single examination.

“On impersonation, in the 2019 UTME, we were able to identify a large number of impersonators, who have been writing UTME for candidates.

“Most of the tutorial masters specialise in recruiting such professional writers for the candidates.

“They do so by using the names directly or variants of the names or by multiple registrations.

“An example is Anambra state where two centres registered a large number of impersonating candidates. In such cases, the results of the candidates have been cancelled and the CBT centres delisted.

“We have also tracked the registration centres and the computers used. In cases where we were able to ascertain the culpability of the centres, we delisted them,” he said.

According to the registrar, the fraudsters thought they could beat the system through ‘contributed fingers’ where two or more persons would use their fingers to register for candidates.

“Two examples of this case are in the Aminu Saleh College of Education, Azare, where someone’s finger(s) was discovered in 42 person’s registration and Bauchi State University, Gadau, where one person’s is traced to the registration of 64 candidates.

“Another example was in Borno State where in Nassara Computer Academy, Maiduguri, 233 candidates had one particular finger included in each of their biometric registration.

“We have made representative arrests and we must thank the Inspector-General of Police and the Commandant-General of the NSCDC for their wonderful cooperation.

“The I-G actually set up a Special Task Force of the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB), which assisted tremendously in tracking the offenders”.

Oloyede, however, noted that 116 centres had been delisted for various infractions, saying that 18 of the 116 centres was previously sanctions by the governing board of JAMB.

He, therefore, assured universities of the board’s commitment in sending biometrics and photo details of candidates to the universities for post UTME.

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The candidates spoke in separate interviews with our reporter on Sunday in Bwari.

The 2019 UTME commenced on April 11 to April 18 with 1.8 million registered candidates.

The board, has repeatedly said that it would take its time to screen the results because of the several infractions dicovered during the exercise.

Madueke John, a candidate said that the long wait for the results has held some of the candidates back, while also causing a lot of tension.

“With everything we are hearing from JAMB and other media reports we are getting, we are tensed.

“I know I did not do anything that will incriminate me during the exams but the entire process this time around has really changed.

“If JAMB, while screening, discovers those who are innocent, why don’t they release those ones and continue screening others, seriously, this is taking forever.

“I really don’t know what to expect again, but please, they should just focus on this year’s exercise and release at least parts of the results to reduce the tension.”

Another candidate, Henrietta Adams said that the board is undoubtedly doing what it deemed best for the country.

She, however, added that it would also do a lot of good if some of the results are released.

Adam added that the long wait has caused some of the candidates to be unsure of what may happen at the end of the day.

She said: “Even if you are sure you did not commit any malpractice during the exercise, with the way the entire process is going, one is forced to start thinking if one’s result will be held for mere turning his or her head during the examination.

“I truly don’t know what to say or expect again, I am just confused, if at least some results were released in parts like last year, then at least, one will be hopeful but as it is, only God knows what they may come up with next.

“We will continue to wait but please JAMB, do something soonest.”

Mr Joseph Onimisi, a candidate’s parent, commended the board for exposing some of the corruption in the system, but advised that parts of the results be released too.

This, he said would reduce the criticism of the board by those sceptical of the intention of the board, adding that the entire process may take longer than the board expected.

The board had continued to assure that it would release the results of the 2019 UTME as soon as it was done screening the entire results, to cut out those who were involved in one malpractice or the other during the exercise.

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JAMB’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dr Fabian Benjamin in an interview with our reporter in Abuja insists that the results would be officially released “anytime” within the week.

This, he explained was because candidates would expect the results from the first two days of the week but might be disappointed as the board has yet to conclude the process of the exercise.

Benjamin said, “We will not release it today, Monday and will not release it tomorrow, Tuesday.

“What we said was anytime within this week. By implication, we are concluding the screening exercise this week and results can be released anytime within the week.”

Benjamin urged the public to fully comprehend media reports to avoid misconception as the board was committed to ensuring sanity in the system.

Benjamin, earlier said that the 2019 UTME results would be ready anytime from Monday, April 29, after a rigorous process.

He had noted that the board was still screening the results but hopefully, the results would be ready soonest.

The board had earlier stated that it would only release the 2019 UTME results after undergoing thorough screening to identify and apprehend examination cheats.

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