A growing number of Nigerian university graduates have accused the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) of collaborating with the Nigerian Police to orchestrate arbitrary arrests and extortions over what the agency terms “fake admissions.”
According to multiple testimonies gathered by SaharaReporters, these graduates say they were admitted into recognized universities after sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), followed JAMB’s official admission regularisation process, received valid admission letters, and were listed on the matriculation portal—only to be ambushed months later with sudden “fake admission” tags on their profiles.
The timing couldn’t have been more brutal. Just days to their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) mobilisation, the affected students were instructed by JAMB to visit its state and zonal offices to “resolve discrepancies.” However, what awaited many of them was not resolution—but detention.
“I went to JAMB’s Abuja office to clarify the ‘fake admission’ alert that appeared on my CAPS profile,” one victim recounted. “Instead, I was arrested, detained, and forced to pay over N200,000 to regain my freedom. JAMB had called the police on us.”
Another graduate shared a chilling account from Abeokuta: “I was detained just outside the JAMB office. The police brought in a Point of Sale (POS) girl. I transferred N50,000 to her, and they took the cash from her. That was the price of my freedom.”
In one of the most harrowing cases, a graduate said officers demanded a staggering N500,000 for his release. “All I wanted was to clarify my admission records. But they treated me like a criminal,” he said.
The affected students hail from institutions across the country, including Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), University of Calabar (UNICAL), Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), University of Benin (UNIBEN), Lagos State University (LASU), Imo State University (IMSU), Edo State University (EDSU), Igbinedion University Okada (IUO), and Kwara State University (KWASU).
They claim they were told in their final year to approach JAMB for admission regularisation—a requirement for NYSC eligibility. “We followed their process, received admission letters, and got cleared. Suddenly, our CAPS showed ‘fake admission’ and we were asked to come to their offices in April 2024. That’s when the nightmare began,” said one of the victims.
Some of the graduates say JAMB informally admitted to a compromised database—allegedly due to hacking—yet refused to take responsibility. “Instead of resolving the error, they are arresting us,” a graduate said bitterly. “Why punish us for a system failure?”
In response to the outcry, JAMB’s Head of Media, Dr Fabian Benjamin, told SaharaReporters that the board only recognises students admitted through its Central Admission Processing System (CAPS).
“If a student gets admission through the back door into an institution, and we don’t know about it, we can’t give them an admission letter,” he said.
He argued that “regularisation” indicates something was initially irregular. “Admissions are governed by clear rules, not emotions,” he added, stressing that the board was fighting fraudulent admissions and certificate forgeries.
When asked specifically about the allegations of extortion and police involvement, Benjamin stated, “I am not aware of any such arrests for extortion or cases where NYSC mobilisation was denied due to genuine qualifications.”
But the affected students insist they are being victimised for no fault of their own. “We were admitted by our universities, followed JAMB’s guidelines, completed our regularisation, and received letters. If there were irregularities, it’s on JAMB and the institutions—not us,” one said.
Now, many of them are facing bleak futures, unable to join NYSC, locked out of job opportunities, and burdened with criminal records.
They are calling on the Federal Government, Ministry of Education, National Assembly, and civil rights groups to investigate JAMB’s role in this unfolding scandal and put an end to what they describe as “an institutionalised shakedown of innocent graduates.”
PIONEER NEWS 