Police captures three teachers, student for exam fraud
Three professors and one student were detained by the Nigeria Police Force in cooperation with the West African Examination Council (WAEC) for their supposed participation in exam malpractice.
The police said the arrest was carried out in cooperation with the West African Examination Council (WAEC) by the Force's cybercrime unit.
The suspects are: Ihuokanma Darlington 36, Ernest Kelechi 33, Onuoha 35 Godstime, and Chukwuma Uche.
Darlington, an Anambra State University political science graduate, teaches at Okon Grammar School in the state of Anambra.
Kelechi, who is a Physics graduate from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Akwa, teaches at Community Secondary School, Ogah, while Onuoha is a Federal Polytechnic, Nekede HOD Mechanical Engineering graduate. He teaches in Ngor Okpala, Imo State, at Pathway Secondary School.
Chukwuma is a student at Rivers State's Charry Secondary School. They have been detained in the countries of Imo, Anambra and Rivers.
The police said the suspects were engaged in transmitting exam questions and responses through social media from the West African Senior Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Speaking at the Force Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday while the suspects were paraded, the Force Spokesman, DCP Frank Mba, said they were all discovered to have snapped photos of the exam issues and their solution on social media.
Mba said while condemning their behavior: "It's a social illness for the police to work with the appropriate agency to tackle.
"The Nigerian Police Force has four male suspects in their custody who have been detained and investigated for roles they have played indirectly facilitating mismanagement in the WAEC that has just been concluded.
"Paradoxically, three of these suspects are professors, and this is very disturbing for us. Disturbing because educators are expected to assist nurture the learners as well as the custodian of our academic system's greatest level of ethics.
"They are intended to safeguard and reinforce the system's integrity and play a leading role in ensuring that the person who receives the certificate deserves the honors that accompany the certificate.
"They transmitted the response to multiple questions via social media using their smartphones." However, he observed that the Force under the management of IGP Adamu developed a fresh system for tracking learners and managers during the WAEC, NECO and JAMB exams.
He said: "The Force is working with the WAEC officials to guarantee that all types of examination malpractice are lowered to their minimum due to the need to restore the glory of the certificate awarded by the organizations."
Speaking about what the examining body is doing to decrease the level of malpractice, the Administration Director, Yusuf Ari said the act's perpetrators have improved from analog to digital cheating.
He said: "One of the greatest problems facing examination bodies in Nigeria and around the globe is the problem of examination malpractice that undermines the integrity of the evaluation system and the candidates ' certificates.
WAEC attempted to combat the fraud and we attempted to remain ahead of the perpetrators. It used to be an analog technique where individuals attempt to smuggle in scripts, textbooks, dictate responses, write on boards, and so on during examination, but with the introduction of ICT, particularly when using smartphones, malpractice has gone digital.
"They snap the questions and send them to individuals who will rapidly answer them and upload them to primarily WhatsApp platform at the start of tests when question papers age is given to applicants."
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