The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has confirmed the arrest of two candidates and a parent over alleged manipulation of 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results using Artificial Intelligence and other electronic tools.
The arrests were announced on Friday, the same day the board released results for 632,788 candidates who sat for the examination on Thursday, April 16.
In a statement issued by its spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, JAMB said the suspects were picked up for allegedly tampering with official result notification messages sent via SMS in a bid to fabricate or alter scores for personal gain and to mislead parents and guardians.
“Currently, two candidates and one parent are in custody for engaging in result falsification using AI and other electronic means,” the statement said.
The board described the act as a serious offence, warning that all individuals found culpable would be prosecuted in line with existing laws.
Benjamin also cautioned candidates against interfering with result messages sent through JAMB’s official shortcodes, 55019 and 66019, stressing that such platforms remain the only authorised channels for result notifications.
He added that candidates who participated in the Thursday examination could check their results by sending the word UTMERESULT via SMS to either 55019 or 66019 using the phone number used during registration.
According to him, printing of official result slips has not yet commenced, noting that the feature will be activated at a later date.
The 2026 UTME, which commenced on April 16, is scheduled to run until April 22 across designated centres nationwide, with results being released in batches as marking and processing continue.