How 94 UTME Candidates Fell Victim To Same Fraudster Twice

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has alerted the public to a disturbing case of repeated fraud involving Emmanuel Praise Akataka, a member of a syndicate earlier arrested for registration-related offences.

JAMB registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, disclosed this in a statement issued to the press in Abuja yesterday.

According to the report, Akataka had previously been apprehended for his role in a network engaged in criminal conspiracy, impersonation, identity theft and online fraud targeting candidates of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

As part of his operations, he created a fictitious identity, “Official Frederick”, through which he ran a WhatsApp platform advertising bogus services such as score inflation.

“Through this scheme, he deceived no fewer than 94 candidates into soliciting for score enhancement by paying for this illegal and non-existent service.

The affected candidates were given a fair hearing by the Board, which allowed them to appear before a special committee to establish their innocence.

“The Honourable Minister’s approval was obtained for the cancellation of their registrations. Mr Akataka was thereafter granted bail in line with due legal process. Following his release on bail, Mr Akataka re-established contact with the same candidates he had previously defrauded.

“This time, he adopted another alias, ‘Sir Frederick,’ and demanded the payment of N70,000 from each candidate, falsely claiming that he could prevent the cancellation of their registrations as he was allegedly in contact with the Board,” the report stated.

The Registrar also disclosed that further investigations revealed that Akataka initially used his father’s bank account, registered in the name of Vincent Okpowho Akataka, to receive payments.

“When he suspected this could expose him, he reportedly opened another account with SmartCash under the name Zainab Rafiu, falsely presenting the individual as a Director in JAMB to lend credibility to the scam.”

JAMB described it as deeply troubling that the same candidates who were involved in the initial misconduct were now victims of yet another fraudulent scheme.

The Board warned that the trend reflects a growing willingness among some candidates to seek unlawful advantage instead of demonstrating integrity and sound judgement.

It also reiterated that no individual or group can influence UTME results, provide special assistance or manipulate candidate registration under any circumstances.