The Department of State Services, DSS, and the Nigerian Police Force, have arrested at least 20 suspects over hacking of the 2025 computer-based test, CBT, Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME.
The 2025 UTME was conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB.
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).
According to the report, security sources confirmed that the suspects have confessed to sabotaging the CBT system in order to discredit JAMB and discourage students from using CBT for future examinations to be conducted by NECO and the West African Examination Council, WAEC.
“The syndicate would install an attacking software on the examination body hardware. The software, in turn, would remotely hack JAMB servers at any targeted CBT centre,” the source quoted one of the suspect as confessing.
The entire hacking process was to influence high scores for special candidates who paid between N700,000 and N2 million.
The report further added that preliminary investigations revealed that several members of the syndicate own private schools and colleges, and make huge sums of money from their special centres.
The source also listed suspects from Lagos; Edo, Anambra, Kano, Delta, among other states.
The source, however, pleaded that their names be left out since, they would soon be charged to court.
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“While the controversy raged, little did the public know that the DSS had been covertly monitoring and investigating this dangerous web of attacks. The investigations led to the arrest of over 20 persons across the country, with arrests still ongoing.
“The strategy of these hackers involved mounting routers within the vicinity of the targeted CBT centres. The routers would, in turn, override JAMB platforms at the centres, making it easy for the special candidates who paid to get answers to the questions.
“The intrusion of the ghost software by the syndicate distorted the system, making answers provided by candidates during the exam to be at variance with the questions. This eventually led to the recorded mass failure,” the security source said.
They fear that fully integrating WAEC/NECO for CBT type of examinations will ruin their illegal business, it was learnt.
The source however added that, as at Friday evening, “no case of complicity had been established against the seven JAMB staff who supervised the Service Providers at the two locations.”