Security operatives have arrested twenty individuals in connection with the alleged hacking of the 2025 Computer-Based Test (CBT) examinations organized by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Naturenex gathered that both the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Police Force carried out the arrests. The suspects are reportedly members of a criminal network believed to have over 100 individuals, specialising in breaching the computer servers of national examination bodies such as JAMB and the National Examinations Council (NECO).
According to a report by AIT, security insiders disclosed that the arrested suspects confessed to deliberately sabotaging the CBT system. Their intention was to damage the credibility of JAMB and discourage the continued use of computer-based exams for future assessments conducted by NECO and the West African Examination Council (WAEC).
The security source revealed to AIT that the operation was designed to manipulate results for selected candidates who paid hefty sums ranging from ₦700,000 to ₦2 million to secure exceptionally high scores.
Further investigations reportedly uncovered that several members of the syndicate are proprietors of private schools and tutorial centres, earning substantial income through so-called special exam centres.
One of the sources explained, “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 further disclosed the method employed by the hackers, saying, “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.”
Additionally, it was revealed how the software intrusion manipulated the exam system, with the source stating, “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.”
