… As DSS Pays N20m Compensation To Bizman Over Accidental Shooting
20 suspects have been arrested by the Department of State Security (DSS) and the police for hacking the 2025 Computer-based test (CBT) examinations conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Meanwhile, DSS has paid N20 million compensation to a Sokoto businessman, who was accidentally shot during an operation.
According to a security source, the suspected hackers are part of a syndicate believed to have over 100 persons, who specialize in hacking the computer servers of examination bodies like JAMB and the National Examinations Council (NECO).
Security sources disclosed that the suspects have confessed to sabotaging the Computer-Based-Test system in order to discredit JAMB and discourage students from using CBT for future WAEC/NECO examinations.
The source quoted one suspect as confessing that the syndicate would install an attacking software on the examination body hardware. The software, in turn, would remotely hack JAMB servers at any targeted CBT centre.
The source also listed suspects from Lagos; Edo, Anambra, Kano, Delta, among other states. He, however, pleaded that their names be left out since, according to him, they would soon be charged to court.
He said: “While the controversy raged, little did the public know that the DSS had been covertly monitoring and investigating this dangerous web of attacks. The investigations led to the arrest of over 20 persons across the country, with arrests still ongoing.
“The strategy of these hackers involved mounting routers within the vicinity of the targeted CBT centres. The routers would, in turn, override JAMB platforms at the centres, making it easy for the special candidates who paid to get answers to the questions.
“The intrusion of the ghost software by the syndicate distorted the system, making answers provided by candidates during the exam to be at variance with the questions. This eventually led to the recorded mass failure.”
The entire hacking process was to influence high scores for special candidates who paid between ₦700, 000 and two million Naira, he added.
According to him, preliminary investigations revealed that several members of the syndicate own private schools and colleges, and make huge sums of money from their special centres. They fear that fully integrating WAEC/NECO for CBT type of examinations will ruin their illegal business, he stressed.
The source however added that, as at Friday evening, “no case of complicity had been established against the seven JAMB staff who supervised the Service Providers at the two locations.”
Meanwhile, in fulfillment of a promise to give free medical services to a Sokoto businessman accidentally shot during an operation, the DSS has invited the victim to its hospital in Abuja.
In mid-March, the DSS Director- General, Mr. Tosin Ajayi, approved the payment of ₦10 million damages awarded by a court to the businessman six years earlier. To compensate for time lost, the DG handed the businessman an additional ₦10 million, bringing the total sum to ₦20 million.
At the time, Mr. Ajayi directed the DSS hospital to officially integrate the businessman into the Services’ medical care system, which would enable him to enjoy free medical services anytime he so desired.
A security source said the businessman arrived in the hospital “a few days ago, and has been undergoing free medical tests and treatment from the hospital’s best doctors.
“True to the DG’s directive, the man has been in the VIP ward which, of course, is fully air-conditioned. They have been running a series of checks and giving him round-the-clock medical attention, in order to make him regain full control of his limbs. I even understand the DG asked that he be fed for free.”
Recall that in 2016, during a pre-dawn operation to arrest a suspected gunrunner in Jos, Plateau State, DSS operatives mistakenly shot and injured the businessman, who incidentally bears the same name as the suspected gunrunner. The gunrunner was eventually arrested.
Two years after the shooting, in 2018, the businessman, through his lawyer, Idris Akibu, approached a Federal High Court in Bauchi. Delivering judgement on the matter with suit number FHC/J/CS/18/2018, the court, presided by Justice Muhammed Shittu Abubakar, ordered the DSS to pay ₦10 million in damages to the injured businessman.
“This is the third DG since this unfortunate case of mistaken identity happened. We were very happy when our new DG directed us to pay the money. He even added another ₦10 million to the victim’s money. It goes to show that, not only can security agencies be law abiding, we can also be full of the milk of human kindness,” the source declared.
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