DSS, Police Arrest 20 For Hacking JAMB’s Server

The Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Police Force
have arrested 20 suspects for hacking JAMB’s 2025 CBT exam servers.

This is contained in a statement by the DSS in Abuja.

It says the arrests followed months of investigation
in Abuja, with coordinated operations across Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Kano, and Delta states.

According to the statement, the suspects’ aim was to sabotage JAMB’s credibility and profit from selling exam answers by using covertly planted routers and “ghost” software to access and manipulate JAMB systems during the exams.

The statement says the 20 suspects who are now in custody are part of a wider syndicate of over 100 people targeting Nigeria’s top examination bodies, including JAMB and NECO.

The statement explains further that the hackers planted special routers near CBT centres, using sophisticated software to remotely access JAMB servers to allow special candidates who paid between ₦700,000 and ₦2 million to receive answers during the exams.

It says the hack distorted exam data, leading to discrepancies between what candidates answered and the questions displayed on-screen, a key reason for the mass failure reported in this year’s JAMB.

According to the statement, most of the suspects are said to be owners of private schools and tutorial centres, allegedly running special centres.

It says investigations are ongoing, and although seven JAMB officials supervised the affected centres, none has been indicted so far.

Mercy Didam, Edited By Grace Namiji