Education

See how we breach CBT centres’ servers for candidates – Hackers

Published

3 months ago

August 23, 2025

Some operators of Computer-Based Test centres accredited by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board have been alleged to be involved in large-scale malpractices during the last Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

Investigations showed that the operators supplied technical information to tech-savvy individuals, who then hacked into servers and manipulated the conduct of the examination.

JAMB had in May experienced technical glitches that marred the 2025 UTME, resulting in mass failure as 1.5 million out of the 1.9 million candidates who sat the exam scored below 200 out of the total 400 marks.

The development generated outrage as the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, broke down in tears on May 14 while admitting that technical errors had affected some candidates’ scores.

No fewer than 20 suspects were arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja for hacking some CBT centres.

Following this, in June, JAMB raised the alarm over candidates using Artificial Intelligence to impersonate others and falsely claim albinism as a means of cheating.

By July, data presented at the board’s 2025 policy meeting revealed that CBT centres in Imo and Anambra states topped the list of places caught engaging in finger-pairing malpractices.

Overall, 19 centres were exposed nationwide: Anambra accounted for six, Imo had four, Abia and Edo recorded one each, Kano had two, while Ebonyi, Delta, Kaduna, Rivers, and Enugu recorded one centre apiece.

In August, JAMB announced that 6,458 admission seekers were under investigation for involvement in technology-enabled examination malpractice during the 2025 UTME.

The board inaugurated a 23-member Special Committee on Examination Infraction to investigate the cases and submit its report within 21 days.

It was gathered that operators of the “miracle centres,” who usually guaranteed success to desperate candidates, contributed to the technical glitches of the exam.

Speaking on how CBT servers were breached, a hacker who identified himself only as Ahmed and has been in the business for 10 years, said there was little JAMB could do to curb exam malpractice because some of the centre operators were actively involved in the process.

Ahmed disclosed that centre operators released the Internet Protocol address to hackers to log into servers undetected, while mercenaries would write exams for some candidates.

Mercenaries are regarded as persons who illegally take exams for candidates.

An IP address is a unique set of numbers assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.

He said, “There are some centres that make their IPs available to hackers. With this, they are able to penetrate and gain access to questions and login details of candidates. There is no way they can monitor all the IP addresses in Nigeria.

“While candidates are physically present at CBT centres, hired mercenaries remain outside with remote access to the centres’ servers to write the exams on their behalf.”

He said candidates who initially logged in at centres would be deliberately logged out to enable mercenaries outside to take over.

Ahmed added that the candidates would have been instructed to remain silent whenever their systems were logged out.

He said, “While the questions are being answered by the mercenaries, we ask the candidates to time themselves for 20 or 25 minutes, then complain that their systems logged them out. During this period, we already have access to their portals and are helping them attempt the questions with mercenaries.

“By the time they notify the examiners at the centres, we are already done answering the questions for them. When they are logged in again, they will see that all the questions have been answered. They only need to click on ‘Submit,’ and that is the end.

“The only thing we use to run this is just to get the IP address and insert some codes, which are simply numeric. After that, we input the digits, and that is all. This enables us to have access to anything related to the JAMB server.”

An education consultant, who runs a coaching centre at Badagry, Lagos, corroborated Ahmed’s claim, saying many of the centres had compromised operators, who enabled exam malpractices.

The consultant confirmed that hackers breach servers of identified CBT centres by compromising the IP address supplied by the operators.

He said, “This would be impossible without an insider from the centres. Without an insider, there is no way we could get the IP address to get it done. These are the backdoors to this activity. These people are being paid millions of naira. The parents of these candidates have already paid everything to the centres.

“There is nothing they can do to curb this malpractice; there will always be an insider who will show how to penetrate the server. Once we gain access to the server, our candidates already pass their exams because we will do it for them remotely.”

A CBT operator based in Lagos who was also involved in the business revealed that the centres were usually aware that their servers had been compromised but would not act.

He said, “The owners of the centres know that their servers are compromised but they wouldn’t do anything about it because they are profiting from the fraudulent activities. The mercenaries are paying them huge amounts of money.

“These centres also have their contact persons in JAMB, who are like a backbone to them. The claim that JAMB’s technology is working against malpractice is not true. There are many students still being helped to pass their exams. What these people do is use the backdoor of a particular centre’s server to carry out their work seamlessly, using mercenaries to write the exams.

“JAMB is not even able to detect their faces or anything. Some of these people do not rely on insiders; they hack directly into the centre’s database.”

But JAMB spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, said hacking the board’s website was not possible, adding that it did not host questions on its website.

“Our systems are locally connected. It is through a Local Area Network, not Internet-enabled. So, no one can see it anywhere. No question has ever been on our website. The examination is not internet-enabled,” he added.

He clarified that what some individuals claimed to hack was the local server of some centres in connivance with owners of such places.

Fabian said, “There is no way somebody will see our questions, because they are like a text message in speed and delivery. We transmit our questions via a model to the centres, similar to that of a text message. It is a candidate’s biometric that grants access to the questions.”

Also, the National President of the Computer Based Test Centre Proprietors Association of Nigeria, Austin Ohaekelem, while applauding the JAMB registrar for reducing exam malpractices, said not all CBT centres were involved in exam fraud.

He noted that some genuine exam glitches were being erroneously tagged as fraud.

Ohaekelem stated, “Somehow, there are still some glitches along the line either at the point of exam registration or during the exam that happened inadvertently. It is now being seen as a fraud and a deliberate act to sabotage the examination.”

Explaining the cases of JAMB’s technical glitches, the national president expressed concern over the blacklisting of innocent centres over the issues.

He said, “There is a centre in Anambra State which was registering a candidate and the network went off, but the candidate picture had been captured. Because the network had a problem, it didn’t submit.

“The next candidate came to register and the person registering the former candidate started to register the new candidate, not knowing that the details of the first candidate were still there. The picture of the second person was used on the details of the first person. It was not deliberate. They got to know at the close of registration when they wanted to print a notification slip.

“There are other issues like biometric capture where each candidate will come and the scanner is not picking it and they keep trying, and the candidates are usually apprehensive. What should be the target of what is called fraud is when a person has the intention of undermining or compromising the examination.”

Commenting on the matter, the Secretary of the Association of Tutorial School Operators in Oyo State, Ogundokun Olufunso, raised concerns over desperate tactics employed by candidates to beat the system during examinations.

Olufunso said some students connived with technology experts to manipulate biometrics, while others fell victim to errors beyond their control.

“Sometimes, some students, out of desperation, connive with tech engineers. Sometimes, they do biometric manipulation. Other students fall victim without doing anything because when their biometric is not accepted, they will assume such a candidate is among those being investigated, and they will not let them sit the examination.”

Olufunso stressed that while eradication of exam malpractice might be difficult, it could be reduced significantly if proper checks were maintained.

On the issue of “miracle centres,” he stated that most tutorial centres in the state had distanced themselves from such practices because of the risks involved.

He said, “I can categorically tell you that most tutorial centres are no longer involved in such things because it is risky, and we warn against it. How much will a student offer you to risk your future and career, and risk going to jail? If you go to jail, these students will continue their lives. So, all tutorial centres now have that mentality that it is better.”

He, however, urged JAMB to carry out internal reviews and ensure loopholes in its system were blocked to prevent manipulation.

Similarly, the Director of Toppers Coaching Centre, Ogun State, Emehinola Omodara, urged JAMB to re-examine its system and close loopholes that could encourage exam malpractice.

Omodara said, “You can’t come up with allegations without evidence. JAMB should go back to the drawing board and reappraise their system. They are trying, but all these loopholes should be worked on so that they can get a vote of confidence from the people.

“If they put their things in order, miracle centres will not exist. They should not be shifting blame, but look inward at their staff members and how the leakages are happening.”

Also speaking, the founder of Campusinfo Consult Limited, Taiwo Folorunsho, emphasised the need for a comprehensive upgrade of the JAMB’s technology to effectively curb malpractice and address its operational shortcomings.

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Education

VC seeks support as new medical varsity holds maiden matriculation

Published

6 hours ago

November 19, 2025

Newsbreak365_Admin

The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Abeokuta, Prof. Fatiu Arogundade, on Tuesday, called for the support of public-spirited individuals and corporate organisations to enhance the growth of the university, which began operations about five months ago.

Arogundade said the cost of funding a university is huge and should not be left for the government alone to bear.

The Vice-Chancellor praised President Bola Tinubu for establishing specialised universities of medical sciences across the six geopolitical zones, explaining that the initiative would significantly increase the production of manpower needed to strengthen qualitative healthcare delivery across the country.

He added that the intervention would also help to reduce the impact of the Japa syndrome due to the expected rise in the number of health workers the specialised universities would produce annually.

Arogundade stated this at a briefing held to announce the university’s forthcoming maiden matriculation scheduled for Thursday.

The VC said that after successful resource verification, the institution was awarded a carrying capacity of 1,000 students based on available resources, and that over 850 pioneer students, admitted through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, would be formally inducted into the university on Thursday during its maiden matriculation.

He stated that the university currently runs programmes such as Nursing Science, Medicine, Biology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Pharmacy, and Medical Laboratory Science, among others.

He added that the university, which commenced operations about five months ago, is currently using the campus of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, as its temporary site, with plans to move to its permanent 170-hectare site at Ajibayo town along the Idi Aba–Ajebo Road, which is under construction.

Arogundade disclosed that relevant regulatory bodies — including the National Universities Commission, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, and Pharmacy Council of Nigeria — have, however, required that the permanent site be reasonably developed for academic activities in the next few months in order to secure accreditation for its eight faculties within the next two years.

He explained that while the university has enjoyed tremendous support from the federal and state governments, as well as prominent indigenes, a great deal still needs to be done to ensure the rapid growth and development of the institution.

Arogundade said, “There is a lot more support that is urgently needed to secure a fully functional FUMMSA, as envisioned by the distinguished sons and daughters of Egbaland, Ogun State, and Nigeria.

“There is no gainsaying the fact that the Federal Government of Nigeria cannot alone shoulder the enormous cost of providing all requisite facilities for a specialised university.

“In this light, the university will welcome endowments, donations, and facilities or equipment, which may be named after the donor if desired. Meanwhile, the hostels will be developed through a public-private partnership model, and this will be advertised shortly.”

He explained that at FUMMSA, the management believes that medical education is not merely the transmission of skills but a fusion of intellect, empathy and innovation.

The VC said the university’s mission is to foster and train competent healthcare professionals equipped to respond to national and global health challenges through appropriate, creative and technology-driven solutions.

The university also strongly believes that “every programme, partnership and act of service reflects the founding conviction that knowledge is most powerful when it heals and serves.”

Arogundade commended Tinubu, the Ogun State Government, the Vice-Chancellor of FUNAAB, Prof. Olusola Kehinde, as well as the Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, among others, for their notable support in ensuring the smooth take-off of the university, while calling for further cooperation from all stakeholders to ensure that the institution fulfils its founding goals and vision.

Government-owned universities in the country face numerous challenges, particularly underfunding, which results in poor infrastructure and a high student-to-lecturer ratio.

This has frequently led to disruptions in the academic calendar, occasioned by strikes usually embarked upon by university lecturers under the Academic Staff Union of Universities to demand better funding for university education by both state and federal governments.

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Education

Kebbi school abduction happened despite intelligence report – Tinubu

Published

7 hours ago

November 19, 2025

Newsbreak365_Admin

President Bola Tinubu has dispatched Vice President Kashim Shettima to Kebbi State to meet with grieving families of the schoolgirls abducted from a boarding school in Maga.

He also promised that the government is working to ensure their safe and swift return.

This is just as he said the abducation took despite intelligence warnings of a possible strike by the bandits.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President also extended condolences to the military over the deaths of several soldiers and Brigadier General Musa Uba, who were killed in action while battling insurgents in Borno State.

Tinubu said he had been fully briefed by military authorities on both incidents and expressed deep sorrow over the attack on the school.

He noted that the abduction occurred “despite intelligence warnings of a possible strike by the bandits,” while commending Kebbi State Governor Mohammed Nasir Idris “for the efforts made to avert the kidnapping.”

Describing the attack as a painful setback, the President urged communities—particularly those in security-vulnerable areas—to work more closely with security operatives.

While lamenting the dual tragedies, Tinubu declared, “As the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, I am depressed with the tragic death of our soldiers and officers on active duty. May God comfort the families of Brigadier General Musa Uba and other fallen heroes.”

He said he was equally troubled by the assault on schoolchildren, stating, “I am also depressed that heartless terrorists have disrupted the education of innocent schoolgirls. I have directed the security agencies to act swiftly and bring the girls back to Kebbi State.”

The President emphasized that citizen cooperation remains central to weakening criminal networks and preventing further attacks.

“Our security forces cannot succeed in protecting us if the people don’t cooperate and share information that will help them keep our communities safe.

“I urge community leaders and our compatriots across the country, especially those in the theatres of operations, to share useful information. Your cooperation is crucial in our fight against these security challenges,” he said.

Vice President Shettima is expected in Kebbi on Wednesday to meet with state officials, reassure affected parents, and convey the President’s message of solidarity and commitment, the statement noted.

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Education

Nigerian scholar wins China study tour

Published

1 day ago

November 18, 2025

Newsbreak365_Admin

A United States-based Nigerian scholar, Collins Obidiagha, has emerged among twelve participants selected from over 100 applicants for the prestigious China Business Immersion Programme, a study and business tour aimed at exposing participants to China’s evolving economic and business ecosystem.

Obidiagha, an international MBA candidate at the Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, shared insights from the programme in a feedback publication titled, “Nigerian Scholar in the US Shares Lessons for Nigeria’s Economic Rebirth.”

He described engagements with major corporations, including Xiaomi and Syngenta, and interactions with students and leaders at Peking University and Jiaolong as providing valuable lessons on how infrastructure drives national growth.

He said, “China’s infrastructure operates like a well-oiled machine. It never ceases to amaze me that an order can be delivered almost anywhere in the country within thirty minutes. That’s the power of an efficient logistics network built on solid infrastructure.”

Obidiagha highlighted China’s sustained commitment to infrastructure-led development, noting that its supply chain smoothness index, which stood at 7.30 in 2010, remains strong at 6.10 in 2022. By contrast, he lamented that Nigeria’s infrastructure stock, estimated at just 30 per cent of GDP, falls far below the World Bank’s recommended benchmark of 70 per cent. He described the situation as a “metaphorical case of kwashiorkor,” warning that chronic underinvestment impedes productivity, poverty reduction, and sustainable growth.

“Only about 30 per cent of Nigeria’s 200,000 kilometres of roads are paved, while the rail network remains underdeveloped due to vandalism, poor maintenance, and funding gaps. Power generation still averages below 5,000 megawatts for a population exceeding 200 million,” he said.

Citing the World Bank’s Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic Report, Obidiagha argued that bridging Nigeria’s infrastructure gap would require a sustained annual expenditure of around $14.2 billion over the next decade, roughly 12 per cent of GDP.

By comparison, he noted that China invested around 15 per cent of its GDP in infrastructure during the mid-2000s.

To address the challenge, he proposed that the Federal Government increase infrastructure spending to at least 10 per cent of the 2026 national budget, rising to 12 per cent in subsequent cycles, financed through “disciplined reprioritisation, blended finance, and targeted borrowing.”

Drawing parallels with China in the 1970s, when only 20 per cent of its roads were paved, Obidiagha expressed optimism that Nigeria could replicate China’s transformation. “Making infrastructure the engine of our economic revival is not just a strategy, it’s the key to unlocking Nigeria’s potential. With sustained investment and governance discipline, Nigeria can achieve the kind of modernisation that has defined China’s last two decades,” he concluded.

Nigerian scholars continue to make a global impact. In August, Deborah Agbakwuru won the prestigious Besancon Scholarship at the University of Montana, while Peter Ngene, a Nigerian-born researcher, secured a €2 million grant from the European Research Council for his work on ionic conductivity in nanocomposite solid-state electrolytes.

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