A manager of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Computer-Based Test (JAMB CBT) has been placed under arrest after it is alleged that she used information obtained during the 15-year-old candidate’s exam registration to engage in an online chat with her.
The issue came to light soon after the registration procedure when the candidate’s mother—who had registered her daughter using her phone number—received offensive messages on her smartphone.
An investigation was sparked by the candidate’s mother’s accusations of carelessness and inadequate security of data on social media.
The mother’s statement revealed that the CBT manager accessed the phone number from the registration form and initiated a text conversation, mistakenly assuming he was communicating directly with the candidate.
Even after being informed of the teenager’s age, the manager continued to message and suggested that the exchange remain private.
Social media users were incensed by the mother’s post about the incident.
After that, JAMB launched an internal investigation and worked with law enforcement, which resulted in the accused employee and an alleged accomplice being taken into custody in a matter of hours.
Speaking to newsmen after the arrest, JAMB’s ICT consultant, Damilola Bamiro, on Thursday said, “Today, based on the social media report that has gone round where a mother complained that her 15-year-old daughter was being approached by a staff of one of our CBT centers, and immediately we got that information, we swung into action.
“We identified the center and since our system identifies who has registered a candidate, we were able to apprehend both the person that registered the candidate and the person that approached the minor.
“We have them in custody already, just to assure Nigerians that JAMB will always swing into action whenever any case against any candidate is reported.”
