2025 UTME: DSS, Police Arrest 20 For Hacking Results

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The suspects are part of an alleged over 100-man syndicate that specialised in hacking the computer servers of examination bodies like JAMB and the National Examinations Council, NECO.

According to security sources, the suspects have confessed to sabotaging the computer-Based-Test system in order to discredit JAMB and discourage students from using CBT for future WAEC/NECO examinations.

The source quoted one suspect as confessing that the syndicate would install an attacking software on the examination body’s hardware. The software, in turn, would remotely hack JAMB servers at any targeted CBT centre.

The source also listed suspects from Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Kano, Delta, among other states. He, however, pleaded that their names be left out since, according to him, they would soon be charged to court.

The source further revealed, “While the controversy raged, little did the public know that the DSS had been covertly monitoring and investigating this dangerous web of attacks.

“The investigations led to the arrest of over 20 persons across the country, with arrests still ongoing.

“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.

“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.

“It is thought the entire hacking process was to influence high scores for special candidates who paid between ₦700, 000 and two million Naira”.

The security operatives may also have to investigate further to prove the suspicion of sabotage as this will open another dimension to the whole saga.

The source also disclosed that preliminary investigations revealed that several members of the syndicate own private schools and colleges and make huge sums of money from their special centres. They fear that fully integrating WAEC/NECO for CBT type of examinations would ruin their illegal business, he stressed.

The source however posited that as of Friday evening, “no case of complicity had been established against the seven JAMB staff who supervised the service providers at the two locations.”