In a resolute move, the West African Examination Council (WAEC) has exposed 56 rogue website operators responsible for leaking its prestigious West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).
Patrick Areghan, the head of the national office in Nigeria, made this announcement while personally overseeing the examinations at government secondary schools in Abuja. He asserted that the rogue website operators would face legal prosecution, highlighting the complicity of unscrupulous supervisors in perpetrating exam malpractices.
Addressing the issue, Mr. Areghan shared, “We have a regulation to release papers to supervisors one hour before commencement time to enable them to go from the collection point to the administrative point because of distance in some schools. But what they do is to snap the question papers and send them to their syndicate groups.”
Expressing concern, he continued, “Candidates are already in the exam hall and you are posting the questions. Sometimes, they change the front of the questions and add 2023 for exam questions of 2020. Some gullible parents and students will go for it and destroy themselves because there is no way they can get our questions.”
Emphasizing their commitment to maintaining the integrity of the examinations, the WAEC official revealed that the exam body has implemented advanced technology to detect malpractices from any location.
He further revealed, “I am happy to announce that so far in this exam, we have made a lot of arrests. We made arrests in Ibadan, Maiduguri, Abeokuta, Osogbo, Umuahia, and many other states.”
Mr. Areghan concluded, “In all, we have made arrests of no fewer than 15 persons comprising candidates, supervisors, school proprietors, and others connected with the malpractices.”
