18th April, 2014
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has arrested a 20-year-old student for swindling candidates participating in the ongoing 2014 May/June Senior School Certificate Examinations.
Mr Stephen Taiwo, WAEC’s Director of Administration, said at a media briefing in Lagos that the suspect confessed to having designed a Website where he claimed to supply solutions to examination questions.
Taiwo said the council got wind of the scam through one of its members of staff, who found a poster advertising the site during a field work.
According to the director, the poster indicated the amount to be paid by interested persons and the account number to pay the money into.
“When we got the alert, we decided to play along by subscribing to the Website in disguise. What they normally do is, as soon as the money is paid by unsuspecting candidates, they stay around the examination venue.
“And as soon as the examination is about 30 minutes on, they quickly smuggle out the question paper. On getting the paper, they try to get solutions to the questions, most of which are incorrect, and then upload to the `Rogue Website’ for their subscribers, who might have smuggled in a handset.”
The official said that the council contacted the bank which the Website designers advertised and using another name, paid N4, 000 into the named account, in a bid to arrest the perpetrators.
Taiwo said that on getting an alert of the money, the suspect quickly went to the bank to withdraw the money through the ATM.
According to him, the suspect, on getting to the bank, slotted in his ATM card and it was seized, which led him to complain to the bank officials.
Taiwo said that the officials asked him to get another card and while he was trying to process it, he was arrested.
He said that the suspect would be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for prosecution.
The suspect, who said he had just gained admission into the Osun State Polytechnic to study Computer Science, confessed that he was working in collaboration with an accomplice.
He said the candidates normally paid between N2, 000 and N5, 000 into the account for the solutions to the examination questions.
The suspect said that he normally sent part of the largesse to his accomplice, by converting them to recharge cards.
He said it was his first time of getting involved in the crime and pleaded that WAEC should temper justice with mercy.