UTME: Over 50 suspects arrested as JAMB burst exam malpractice syndicate

THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has uncovered a syndicate that specializes in sitting for Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination for prospective candidates for a fee.

As a result of the various intelligence gathering of the Board, over 50 of such professional examination writers have been arrested across the country.

JAMB made this known in its Monday Bulletin of 15th April, 2019, made available to newsmen in Abuja by the Head of Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin.

The Board noted that some of the fraudsters were master’s degree holders, postgraduate and undergraduate students of tertiary institutions.

It was gathered that this professional writers usually connive with some owners of Computer Based Test (CBT) centres to perpetrate this crime through engaging in multiple registrations whereby the fingerprints of the actual candidates and their impersonators are captured side by side.

The Board revealed that the modus operandi of this UTME syndicate was confirmed when one of the kingpins was apprehended recently.

It said: “On interrogation, he confessed to the multiple registrations of his biometric along with several other candidates preparing to take the 2019 UTME with the intention to sit the examination on their behalf in exchange for a hefty sum of money.”

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“This development is the fundamental reason for the decision of the Board to re-validate all biometrics of candidates that have taken the Board’s examination in recent time.”

“This timely action would enable the Board to not only fish out and dismantle these registration cartels and racketeers but bring them to book along with their collaborators.”

“Yet another startling revelation was discovery by the Board that a substantial portion of yearly UTME applications was composed of these bogus registrations.”

“These unwholesome applications have the singular effect of ballooning the total statistical data of registration amounting to over 30% of the 1.8 million candidates that registered for the UTME.” the Board said.