The names of 195 candidates who were allegedly caught cheating during the just concluded 2020 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, have been released, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) said.

JAMB also said it had delisted nine Computer Based Test, CBT, centres cutting across Abia, Enugu, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos Nassarawa, Ogun, Oyo and Kano states for what it called “technical deficiency and alleged connivance with candidates to cheat.”

The nation’s tertiary institutions’ examination body, in its weekly bulletin, released to the media by its Head of Information and Public Affairs, Dr Fabian Benjamin, yesterday, said the suspects were involved in different forms of examination irregularities.

“The board noted that of over 1.9 million candidates who sat for its examinations between March 14 and April 4, 2020, it was able to establish prima facie cases against 195 candidates for examination misconduct.

“According to the Bulletin, 89 candidates were caught for examination by proxy, 32 candidates for smuggling mobile phones and devices into the examination hall, 26 candidates were caught for convenience to cheat, 24 candidates for attempting to cheat.

Also, nine candidates were listed for unruly behaviour, seven candidates were found to have carried out double registrations, four candidates tampered with their examination document, three candidates were caught for forceful entrance while one candidate was found to have faked vital documents.

The Bulletin further showed that the highest number of infractions were perpetrated by candidates from Imo state with 28 listed cases, followed by Anambra, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano and Plateau states with over 12 listed cases of examination malpractice each.

The Board, however, revealed that in comparison with previous years, the incidence of examination malpractice by UTME candidates was on the decline.

“Examination infraction in UTME is declining with the 2020 experience. However, out of the 1,945,983 million candidates who sat for the examination, Prima facie cases of examination misconduct have been made against the following (195) candidates.”