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Security operatives have arrested 20 suspects for allegedly hacking the computer-based 2025 unified tertiary matriculation examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
According to Channels Television, the suspects were arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The report said the suspects are part of a syndicate believed to have over 100 persons who specialise in hacking the computer servers of examination bodies like JAMB and the National Examinations Council (NECO).
Quoting security sources, Channels Television added that the suspects have confessed to sabotaging the examination to discredit JAMB and discourage students from using CBT for future tests to be conducted by NECO and the West African Examination Council (WAEC).
The suspects reportedly charged special candidates between N700,000 and N2 million to obtain high scores in the UTME, using private schools and colleges as their operational bases.
THE UTME CONTROVERSY
The conduct of this year’s UTME, which commenced in April nationwide, was characterised by complaints from candidates.
Many candidates said they were not able to sit for the exam due to being posted to far-flung centres.
When JAMB released the UTME results on May 9, a breakdown showed that more than 78 percent of candidates scored less than 200 marks out of the 400 maximum points obtainable.
This spurred protests that questioned the overall integrity of the examination process.
During a press conference on May 14, Ishaq Oloyede, JAMB registrar, admitted to a technical error that compromised the integrity of the results in 157 centres nationwide.
Oloyede said the results of 379,997 candidates were affected by the technical error.
The JAMB registrar added that the board discovered discrepancies linked to faulty server updates in its Lagos and south-east zones, which led to the failure to upload candidates’ responses during the first three days of the examination.
The examination body has since conducted a re-sit examination for the affected candidates.
