From Eric Ikhilae, Abuja

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) management on Wednesday handed over some owners of accredited Computer Based Test (CBT) centres to security agents for allegedly committing cybercrime.

The board had accused about 38 CBT centres owners of infractions in the current registration of candidates for the 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and Direct Entry examination, using the Virtual Private Network (VPN).

The board invited the CBT operators to a meeting in Abuja on Wednesday from where they were cornered and handed over to the police.

The meeting was attended by a representative from the office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and other members of security agents as well as workers of the board.

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, who addressed reporters at the end of the meeting, said the board, in its continuous effort to fight examination malpractice, decided to focus more on CBT centres and the infractions they committed in the 2020 registration of candidates.

Oloyede said some of their alleged crimes included submission of fictitious names and fake NIN numbers to the board by the centre owners as officers that would partake in the exercise.

Some of the NIN numbers, the registrar added, included candidates’ numbers, duplicated and sent to the board as NIN for registration officers, who were later discovered to be non-existent.

He explained that some of the CBT owners extended the VPN on their computers already registered by the board to extend the point of registration to undesignated locations.

Oloyede said: “As far as I am concerned, a prima facie case has been established against all involved and they will go and give their statements to the police.

Read Also: JAMB hands over 38 ‘fraudulent’ CBT centre owners for prosecution

“Our present technology enables us to track all registration officers, either ad hoc or permanent JAMB workers, through the National Identification Numbers (NIN).

“All designated computers used for the registration have also been duly registered by the board, which enables tracking, and has successfully led us to crimes committed by some of the centres.

“I appeal to candidates and their parents to go through the normal process of this exercise. Those who go to unaccredited centres, thinking it will work on their favour, would have themselves to blame.

“Our position remains to have the incoming generation have a better society.”

The registrar said all candidates who registered with the centres involved in the fraud may not be able to sit for the 2020 examinations because of the “illegal process” of their registration.

But he said the board may consider the fate of the candidates in due course to help some of the innocent victims.

Oloyede added that over 40 computers had been confiscated from their owners as evidence for the alleged crimes.