JAMB uncovers fingerprint manipulation in 19 CBT centres
JAMB uncovers fingerprint manipulation in 19 CBT centres
Data presented by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) during its 2025 policy meeting on Tuesday revealed that Computer-Based Test (CBT) centres in Imo and Anambra states recorded the highest number of fingerprint fraud cases.
A total of 19 centres across the country were implicated, with Anambra accounting for six, Imo four, Abia one, Edo one, Kano two, and one centre each in Ebonyi, Delta, Kaduna, Rivers, and Enugu.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, disclosed this during a presentation at the meeting held in Abuja with vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts, and other key stakeholders in the education sector.
He also highlighted other forms of malpractice uncovered, including impersonators using albinos to alter their appearance (a tactic referred to as image-bending) and cases involving remote uploads.
Meanwhile, the police have arraigned two persons before the Federal High Court in Katsina for alleged impersonation and examination malpractice.
The police prosecutor, Abdussalam Danmaidaki, said the defendants, Bolanwu Emmanuel and Ibrahim Abdulaziz, committed the offence on April 30 at Zee Alpha International School, Funtua.
Danmaidaki said Emmanuel invited Abdulaziz into the exam hall to impersonate him and sit the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination on his behalf with registration number: 2025515278JA.
The prosecutor stated that the offence was punishable under Sections 4(2)(a) and (b), as well as 4(3)(c) of the Examination Malpractice Act, Cap E15, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
He further alleged that Abdulaziz unlawfully and fraudulently posed as a UTME candidate, sitting for the examination under the name “Emmanuel” with registration number 2025515278JA. This act, he said, also violates Sections 3(1)(a) and (b), and 3(2)(c) of the same Act.
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecutor requested the court to grant time to enable him present his witnesses.
Justice Hussaini Dadan-Garba, who presided over the matter, adjourned the case until July 18 for trial and the presentation of the prosecution’s witnesses.
