Chidera Abaratu, PBA Journalism MenteeBy Chidera Abaratu, Journalism Mentee
The Spokesman of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Dr Fabian Benjamin in an interview with Leadership TV responded to the recent controversy surrounding the result of Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma.
During the interview, he stated that nothing was wrong with JAMB’s system or the results in the system. Also, the assumption of the public that the database might have been compromised was wrong.
He emphatically stated that the copy of the result that Mmesoma was parading was a forged one and was not issued by JAMB.
The spokesman explained that the reason why the board did not respond earlier was that the board was unaware until it was made public that a candidate was parading herself as the highest scorer in the 2023 UTME examination and also, the board needed to conduct her investigation.
In his response, he said, “When we got this information that somebody is being claimed to 362. We went into our system and we discovered that there was nobody with a score of 362. The Commissioner for Education in Anambra State actually called me and I asked her to send the result to me. For every result that is printed from our system, it comes out with a QR code. The QR code is a security device on that result. So the first thing I did was to scan the QR code. But when I scanned the QR code on the result slip. The slip she is holding with 362 I discovered that the QR code belongs to a candidate who sat the examination in 2021 one Omobolale and that candidate scored 138 in 2021. And I became very curious. So I went into the system with the name, with the registration number, because she put her number, she put the scores she obtained and I checked in the system. And we discovered that she scored 249 and not 362.
“As a matter of fact, there is no score of 362 in our own system. So we were not aware of this issue until when she brought it into the public space, because what she did was just to have a slip of paper for instance, and then she mutilated, maybe using graphic design to mutilate the scores and then she was parading that score. So there is no way we know that such a particular version of the result is being circulated in the public space as long as what we have on our system is not tampered with.
“A lot of people come up with certain claims. And as a matter of fact, honestly, if you begin to run after each claim that this person, say has this, he has that you will not do your primary responsibility.
He stated “This girl is not alone in this particular act in fact. Some persons are even accusing us of coming to the public too early that we should have done some undercover investigation to ensure that we arrest those people who are behind the whole thing. Given her age, they felt that there was no way she would have been able to sponsor this kind of coordinated fraud that she had done. If I tell you the level of investigation that we’ve conducted.
Giving an insight into the development, he explained that JAMB makes use of USSD code: 55019. This USSD code is used to communicate with candidates during registration, examination, and release of results. In the case of Mmsomma immediately she got her result through text message with 249 as her score.
“You know that one is just a text message. It’s very easy for you to doctor. So she doctored the results, put the marks the way she wanted them and sent them back to 5501 and the USSD code. So the code also returns her original result again. So if you look at the communication, in fact, this is very easy anybody can investigate it. All you need to do is just to pick up her phone number. I think she used an Airtel. Go to Airtel and then ask them to give you the communication between this number and the USSD code and they will give you and you’ll see”
“What I’m trying to say is that at each point she was sending requests to 5501. It kept returning her result of 249, I think almost like four times. She will send it back, it will return her original result, she will send it, it will turn her original result. And then she now went outside the database to obtain that slip, but unfortunately for those people who are sponsors and managers. They didn’t know that there are security devices attached to each slip that they print and the QR code is one of them. There are about seventeen of them, and I wouldn’t want to mention some of them on air”
However, the QR code was not tampered with and it contains the actual owner of the slip but the rest of the information on the slip was tampered with. Another proof that the result was a forged one was that the design of her slip was not for the 2023 result.
“The consequence of her action he stated is that 249 result as we speak is withdrawn she does not have a result and she is be banned from taking this exam in the next three years.” He concludes.
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