At least 20 individuals have been apprehended by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Police Force in connection with a sophisticated hacking ring targeting the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The UTME, conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), was reportedly compromised by a network of cybercriminals said to include over 100 members.
According to AIT, the group specializes in infiltrating the digital infrastructure of examination bodies such as JAMB and the National Examinations Council (NECO).
Security sources revealed that the arrested suspects have confessed to deliberately sabotaging JAMB’s computer-based testing (CBT) system. Their alleged aim was to undermine public trust in the CBT format, potentially discouraging its use in future exams conducted by NECO and the West African Examination Council (WAEC).
One suspect reportedly disclosed that the group would install malicious software on official examination hardware. This malware was capable of remotely breaching JAMB’s servers at targeted CBT centres.
The motive behind the hack? Facilitating inflated scores for ‘special candidates’ who paid between ₦700,000 and ₦2 million for guaranteed results.
Preliminary findings also suggest that many of the syndicate’s members operate private schools and tutorial centres, profiting heavily from illegal exam assistance through so-called “special centres.”
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