DSS arrests ‘Special Centre’ operators who hacked 2025 UTME results for clients
Students paid between N700k-N2m for high scores
The Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Police Force have arrested 20 individuals allegedly involved in the hacking of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) computer-based test (CBT), raising alarm over the credibility of national exams.
The suspects are part of a sophisticated network of over 100 people reportedly targeting major examination bodies, including the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the National Examinations Council (NECO).
Investigators revealed that the arrested suspects confessed to deliberately compromising JAMB’s CBT infrastructure in an attempt to undermine the agency and discourage other examination bodies, such as NECO and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), from adopting CBT platforms.
According to a security source quoted by AIT, the syndicate used malicious software to gain remote access to JAMB servers, especially during live exams at select CBT centres.
This allowed them to manipulate UTME scores for clients who allegedly paid between ₦700,000 and ₦2 million for guaranteed high marks.
Preliminary findings also indicate that some of the suspects own private schools, which they used as “special centres” to perpetrate and profit from these exam malpractices.
Authorities stated that the arrests are only the beginning, as investigations continue to trace and dismantle the broader network responsible for the breach.
