*Security sources disclose the arrested suspects are part of a larger syndicate specialising in hacking the computer servers of public examination bodies, including JAMB and NECO, to influence high scores for ‘special candidates’, who paid between N700,000 and N2 million

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have arrested 20 suspects, in Abuja, FCT, for hacking the 2025 Computer-based test examinations, conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

绿帽献妻 gathered the arrested suspects are reportedly part of a syndicate of over 100 persons, who specialise in hacking the computer servers of examination bodies, such as JAMB and the National Examinations Council (NECO) in the country.

Security sources revealed the suspects have confessed to sabotaging the CBT system to discredit JAMB and discourage students from using CBT for future examinations to be conducted by NECO and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Channels TV report said.

It is recalled that JAMB released the 2025 UTME results over a couple of weeks ago.

According to security sources, the entire hacking process in the UTME was to influence high scores for “special candidates”, who paid between N700,000 and N2 million.

Incidentally, several members of the examination fraud syndicate own private schools and colleges, and make huge sums of money from their special centres.

An analysis of this year’s UTME results indicated that over 78 percent of candidates scored less than 200 points out of the 400 maximum points obtainable.

Speaking at a media briefing t贸 address the relatively poor performance of the candidates in the 2025 UTME, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, Registrar of JAMB, May 14, 2025, in Abuja, said the results of 379,997 candidates across 157 centres in its Lagos and South-East zones were affected.

Oloyede also attributed the development to faulty server updates that prevented candidate responses (answers) from being uploaded during the first three days of the examination.

The JAMB Registrar claimed that the problem caused by one of its technical service providers, occurred undetected before the Board released the exam results.

Subsequently, JAMB later decided to allow some hundreds of thousands of UTME candidates to resit the examination.

The Board conducted a resit examination, starting from May 16 and extending beyond May 19.