At least 20 individuals have been arrested in Abuja by the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Police Force for allegedly hacking the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The suspects are said to be members of a cybercrime syndicate with over 100 operatives, reportedly involved in breaching the servers of examination bodies such as JAMB and the National Examinations Council (NECO).
According to security sources, the group admitted to compromising the Computer-Based Test (CBT) systems in an attempt to undermine JAMB’s credibility and discourage the use of CBT for future WAEC and NECO exams.
One suspect allegedly revealed that the group installed malicious software on JAMB hardware, which was then used to remotely access the examination body’s servers at specific CBT centers.
The suspects, reportedly drawn from states including Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Kano, and Delta, have not yet been publicly named, as authorities prepare to charge them in court.
“The DSS had been quietly tracking this syndicate for months,” a source disclosed. “Investigations so far have led to over 20 arrests nationwide, with more expected.”
The hackers reportedly used routers placed near targeted CBT centers to override JAMB systems, enabling paying candidates to receive answers during the exam. This manipulation caused discrepancies between candidate responses and exam questions, contributing to widespread failures.
The source noted that candidates paid between ₦700,000 and ₦2 million for guaranteed high scores. Many of the suspects are also believed to operate private schools and ‘special centers’ that profit from exam fraud. They allegedly fear that the expansion of CBT for WAEC and NECO would jeopardize their illicit businesses.
As of Friday evening, no evidence has been found implicating any of the seven JAMB staff who oversaw the affected CBT centers.