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Exam Malpractice: 100 UTME Candidates Arrested
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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has said that no fewer than 100 candidates of the just concluded Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination were arrested nationwide by security operatives for various examination malpractices.
Our correspondent learnt that the suspects were apprehended by operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and would be charged to court at the completion of investigations.
The board confirmed the arrest in a bulletin released on Monday, noting that the crimes ranged from multiple registrations, ghost writing to impersonation.
It said, “No fewer than 100 candidates have been picked up by security agencies nationwide as part of efforts to sanitise the examination process. Among those arrested was a candidate who registered 64 times in a bid to take the examination for 64 candidates, since the examination ran for seven days and had an average of three shifts per day per centre.
“The arrests of the culprits were made possible by the compulsory identity checks conducted on the candidates, with a view to fishing out professional ghost writers.”
According to the bulletin, the JAMB Registrar, Prof Is-haq Oloyede, stated that no act of examination malpractices would be condoned, as the board had engaged “cutting edge technology to capture all activities taking place in the Computer-Based Test centres.”
Oloyede added that there was a criminal gang from Edo, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Abia, Anambra and Plateau states who circulated fake UTME result notices, urging parents to disregard such falsehood.
The registrar said, “A gang being coordinated from a town, Igarra in Edo State, with affiliates in Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Abia, Anambra and Plateau states, is circulating fake notice of impending reduction of UTME scores. This is with intent to extort and defraud fraudulent parents and candidates.
“Candidates’ results would be received on their registered cell phones as soon as the ongoing scrutiny of the examination centres is completed and publicly announced.”
The board insisted that whenever the UTME results were released, candidates would be able to check their results from their mobile phones, by sending a code to 55019.
“All that a candidate who wishes to check his or her results needs to do is to text to 55019 using the same phone number that was used for registration and his or her result would be returned as a text message,” the bulletin said.
The Punch
The Regional Chairman of Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State, Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, has denied reports that he prayed for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima in the 2027 presidential election.
Dachomo, who is currently in Israel on what he described as his first International Christian Advocacy Tour, said his visit was aimed at drawing the attention of world leaders to the plight of Christians in Plateau.
The cleric made the clarification in a social media post on Monday night following reports that he had prayed for the success of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket and expressed support for the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Dachomo said his earlier post, in which he prayed for Nigeria, had been misconstrued as an endorsement of Tinubu and Shettima ahead of the 2027 election.
According to him, there was nowhere in the post where he prayed for the President and Vice-President to win the election.
“People are trying to frame me, saying I prayed for a Muslim-Muslim ticket. But I did not, and I will never pray for a Muslim-Muslim ticket because Nigeria belongs to both Muslims and Christians,” he said.
Dachomo said his prayers were for the well-being and success of Nigeria and its citizens, irrespective of their religious affiliations.
“I pray for both Muslims and Christians in Nigeria. I pray for Nigeria to succeed. If you truly want to come to God, come with a clean heart,” he added.
The cleric further stated, “I did not pray for President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima to win in 2027. My prayers have always been for Nigeria to succeed.”
Dachomo’s clarification came amid reactions to his ongoing advocacy tour in Israel, where he is seeking international attention to security challenges and what he described as the persecution of Christians in Plateau.
Ahead of the 2027 election, the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to disqualify candidates whose names are not contained in political party registers, as stipulated by the Electoral Act 2026.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Chairman of the committee, Bayo Balogun, drew the commission’s attention to a Supreme Court ruling on Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) and called for their full enforcement across all political parties.
Balogun, a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, said that pending legal proceedings concerning the interpretation, constitutionality and enforceability of the sections had been resolved by virtue of the Supreme Court judgment.
The lawmaker recalled that the Supreme Court, on September 24, 2026, restored the provisions after setting aside the Court of Appeal judgment that had declared them unconstitutional.
According to him, the apex court held that the provisions were not inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution.
Balogun explained that Section 77(5) provides that only members whose names are contained in the membership register submitted to INEC are eligible to vote or be voted for at party primaries, congresses and conventions.
He said that Section 77(6) requires political parties to use the register submitted to the electoral umpire for such exercises.
Balogun urged INEC to proceed without further delay to enforce Sections 77(4) to 77(6) in the administration and monitoring of political parties and their electoral activities.
He further urged the commission to audit the membership registers and candidates submitted by political parties to establish whether the names of the candidates are contained in the registers earlier submitted to INEC in compliance with Section 77(5).
“This will be a litmus test for the commission – any culpable political party and candidates should be disqualified.
“Diligent enforcement of the provision would help prevent disputes and reduce the volume of litigation that could arise from alleged irregularities or non-compliance with Sections 77(4) to 77(6) of the Electoral Act,” Balogun said.
An helicopter crashed into a swamp near Naval Base in Igbokoda, the headquarters of Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Monday.
The incident occurred at about 11.00a.m during heavy down pour, throwing the coastal community into panic.
The number of people on board of the helicopter was yet to be officially confirmed, while the condition of possible survivors cannot be confirmed.
Confirming the incident, Maurice Oripenaiye, the Chairman of the local government, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview that he could not ascertain the number of the victims.
Oripenaye also said he was yet to ascertain the identity of the crashed helicopter and the passengers.
“It happened during the heavy rainfall at about 11.00a.m. I cannot confirm the number of the people on board. I have deployed some youths to the area for rescue purpose,” he told NAN.
Similarly, the Police Command in Ondo State while confirming the crash, said details surrounding the incident were still emerging.
The command in a statement by its spokesperson, Abayomi Jimoh, a deputy superintendent of police, in Akure, said efforts were ongoing to establish the full circumstances surrounding the crash.
“The command urges members of the public, particularly residents of Igbokoda and adjoining communities, to remain calm and refrain from circulating unverified information.
“The public will be duly informed as soon as further credible information becomes available,” it stated.
(NAN)
