BREAKING: Minister Vows Crackdown on Nigerians with Fake Foreign Certificates
Education Minister Tahir Mamman has declared that security authorities will pursue Nigerians possessing counterfeit certificates from foreign nations who exploit them to gain opportunities within the country.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today program, Mamman characterized these individuals as criminals rather than victims, expressing no sympathy for them.
He stressed the need to investigate institutions or operators operating for the past decade, tracing records of Nigerians who attended such places and treating them as criminals without a limitation on the timeframe for criminality.
The minister affirmed that security agencies would apprehend them if their institutions were identified.
Mamman also revealed the government’s intention to suspend degree certificates from additional countries, including Uganda, Kenya, and the Niger Republic, expanding beyond the initial actions taken against Benin and Togo.
The minister highlighted the government’s commitment to casting a wider net and addressing institutions set up in countries like Uganda, Kenya, and Niger.
Following an exposé by an undercover journalist detailing the quick acquisition of a degree from a university in Benin Republic and subsequent deployment for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), the Federal Government promptly suspended the accreditation of certificates from Benin and Togo.
Mamman indicated that the government had initiated a probe, expecting the report in three months, aiming to address the issue of fake foreign certificates already infiltrating the system.