The Anambra State Government says it has handed over 19-year-old Mmesoma Ejikeme, who forged her Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result, to a psychotherapist for a three-month guidance and counselling session.
Professor Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, the state commissioner for education, disclosed this during a press briefing in her office in Awka, the state capital, on Thursday, July 20.
Chuma-Udeh maintained that Mmesoma would undergo a therapy class for three months as recommended by the state panel, which probed the UTME forgery case.
“We considered what Mmesoma did as ‘juvenile delinquency’ to which any child could fall victim. So, we are not going to throw the baby away with the bath water. She is now under a psychotherapist counsellor who will take her on therapy for three months, after which the state government will appeal to JAMB management on behalf of her to reconsider one or two things,“ she said.
The commissioner also commended Anambra state governor, Chukwuma Soludo, for approving the psychotherapy class for Mmesoma.
Politics Nigeria recalls that Mmesoma, a student of Anglican Girls Secondary School, Nnewi, made the news after JAMB accused her of fraudulently manipulating her UTME score from 249 to 362 and parading herself as UTME top scorer for 2023.
Before eventually admitting the allegation, Mmesoma had engaged JAMB in accusation and counter-accusation with the examination body giving her a three-year ban.
