The Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Police Force have apprehended no fewer than 20 individuals in connection with the hacking of the 2025 computer-based test (CBT) Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The examination was organized by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
According to a report by AIT, the arrested individuals belong to a larger syndicate comprising over 100 members, who are known for breaching the computer systems of examination bodies such as JAMB and the National Examinations Council (NECO).
The report cites security sources who confirmed that the suspects admitted to compromising the CBT system with the intent of undermining JAMB’s credibility and discouraging the use of CBT for future assessments by NECO and the West African Examinations 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,” one of the suspects reportedly confessed, according to the source.
The objective of the breach was to manipulate scores in favor of certain candidates who allegedly paid amounts ranging from N700,000 to N2 million.
Additionally, the report indicates that early investigations revealed that many members of the syndicate are proprietors of private schools and colleges, profiting significantly from their so-called special centres.
