In a chilling revelation, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, has exposed a disturbing new trend in examination malpractice—fraudsters are now turning to Artificial Intelligence (AI) to beat the system.
Speaking in Abuja, Oloyede said that some candidates have resorted to sophisticated AI tools to impersonate others during the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). The most shocking of these tactics? Manipulating images to appear as albinos, just to bypass JAMB’s biometric facial recognition technology.
“We discovered that some individuals attempted to cheat by falsely declaring themselves albino, thinking it would help them dodge our security checks,” Oloyede revealed. “But they are not albinos. The AI they used created a blended facial image that mimicked albino features, and they thought we wouldn’t notice.”
A Sudden Spike in ‘Albino’ Candidates Raised Red Flags
For years, JAMB has typically registered fewer than 100 albino candidates nationwide. But this year, something didn’t add up—1,787 candidates suddenly identified as albinos during registration.
“We became suspicious when one centre alone registered 450 of them. It was ridiculous—as though every albino in Africa had chosen that one centre,” the Registrar said, expressing disbelief.
JAMB’s internal checks flagged the anomaly, prompting a deeper investigation. Things came to a head when a suspect in custody decided to confess.
“One of the arrested suspects told us, ‘I will tell you what really happened,’ and when he did, it all made sense,” Oloyede said. “We went back to verify all the self-declared albinos, and what we found was clear—only about 250 were genuine.”
AI-Powered Fraud: A New Frontier for Malpractice
According to Oloyede, the impersonation strategy involves taking photos of two people—typically the real candidate and the impersonator—and using AI to merge their faces. The outcome is a synthetic image that can look like either person, depending on how you view it. This image is then used to exploit loopholes in JAMB’s facial recognition system.
“The fraudsters blend both faces using AI, then declare that the person is albino so that the system doesn’t flag it as inconsistent,” he explained. “In one case, we even arrested a dark-skinned man in Benin City claiming to be an albino. How does that make any sense?”
JAMB Vows to Fight Back
In response to these alarming developments, Oloyede said JAMB is taking decisive steps to strengthen its biometric and identity verification systems. The board is also collaborating with security agencies to ensure all perpetrators and their accomplices are brought to justice.
“We are not folding our arms. We are upgrading our systems and going after everyone involved in these criminal acts,” he affirmed. “No matter how advanced their technology gets, we will stay ahead.”
The Registrar called on the public to support the fight against examination malpractice, warning that Nigeria’s future depends on restoring integrity to its education system.
