JAMB begins biometric verification, to expose exam cheats over ten years

The nation may soon witness a great expose, as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB has launched a biometric verification aimed at exposing examination cheats in its system over the past 10 years.

Dr. Fabian Benjamin, JAMB’s Head, Media and Information of JAMB, Fabian Benjamin, said disclosed this on Monday while appearing on a program on 95.1 Nigeria Info FM, Abuja.

According to him, the board has started the probe and it would be completed in record time as JAMB.

He also disclosed that the board has acquired a software which would be able to identify fake biometric data.

“Even if you are now working and we discovered that someone wrote exams for you, we will publish your name and the law agencies will do the needful.

“We have the biometrics from 10 years ago. We will compare the photos with thumbprints and names.

“We discovered that a candidate could have written exams with 30 different names”, Benjamin said.

On how examination cheats impersonate, Benjamin explains: “This is how they operate: My name is Fabian Benjamin, but I will register as Abdullahi Musa and write exams for Abdullahi Musa; but I will use Fabian Benjamin’s picture and biometric data; only the name will be different.

“I will register as John David, as Austin Steven. I will register in the name of anyone that pays me, write exams for that person, but I will use my picture.

“What this means is that when I get into the hall, the biometric data verification will allow me to enter, but I will write the exam for someone else.

“The person for whom exams were written would get into university and, of course, most universities don’t use the pictures of JAMB during admissions. But what we want to enforce now is that the institutions must use the picture of the person.

“We will give the institution the photo and it must match. In fact, only our picture must be accepted by the institution.”