The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has announced the arrest of two candidates and a parent for allegedly using Artificial Intelligence and other electronic tools to falsify 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination results.
JAMB spokesperson, Fabian Benjamin, in a statement on Friday, said the suspects were apprehended for manipulating official SMS result notifications to fabricate or alter scores with the intent to deceive others, including 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 read.
The disclosure came as the board released scores for 632,788 candidates who sat for the examination on Thursday, April 16.
Benjamin warned that such conduct constitutes a serious criminal offence and that the board would pursue all culpable persons to the full extent of the law.
He also cautioned candidates against tampering with result messages from JAMB’s official SMS platforms, 55019 and 66019.
“Candidates are strongly cautioned against manipulating the SMS received from the official platform to fabricate or alter scores with the intent to mislead others, including parents. Such actions constitute a serious criminal offence,” the statement said.
To check their results, candidates were advised to send “UTMERESULT” via SMS to 55019 or 66019, using the same phone number used during registration. At this stage, candidates may view their results only; printing is not yet available.
The 2026 UTME, which began on April 16, is expected to continue until April 22 across examination centres nationwide. Results will continue to be released in batches as the exercise progresses.
