The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced the arrest of more than 100 individuals involved in examination malpractice during the recently concluded Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The arrests were made across the country, according to a statement released in JAMB’s Weekly Bulletin by its spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin.

The suspects were allegedly involved in multiple registrations, a tactic used to facilitate impersonation during the examination. JAMB revealed that this fraudulent practice has inflated the annual registration numbers for UTME by as much as 30%.

One notable arrest involved a notorious cheat who registered 64 times with the intent to “ghost-write” for other candidates. JAMB credited the arrests to comprehensive identity checks conducted during the examination to prevent professional impersonators from exploiting the system.

Additionally, JAMB cancelled the results of two Computer Based Test (CBT) centres in Abia State—Heritage and Infinity CBT Centre, and Okwyzil Computer Institute Comprehensive School in Aba—due to widespread irregularities. The cancellation followed a detailed review of CCTV footage by a panel of experts.

To avoid punishing innocent candidates affected by the cancellation, JAMB relocated those scheduled at the compromised centres to other venues, where they were able to retake the examination. JAMB apologised for the inconvenience caused and reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring equal opportunities for all candidates.

The board reiterated its dedication to upholding the integrity of the examination process and warned against future malpractice attempts.