File: Civil Defence corps

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Borno Command, rrested eight suspects who specialise in forging school certificates and security documents.

The Commandant of NSCDC in the state, Mr Abdullahi Ibrahim disclosed this to newsmen on Tuesday in Maiduguri.
Ibrahim said the suspects were arrested on Aug. 21 at the Post Office area of Maiduguri by the anti-fraud unit of the command.

He alleged that they specialised in forging school leaving certificates, diploma and degree statements of results as well as National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificates.

The commandant also said that the suspects specialised in forging admission letters and identification cards of institutions of higher learning in the state.

Ibrahim, who did not give the names of the suspects, alleged that they included staffers of some of the tertiary institutions.

“The syndicate siphoned huge sums of money from the bursary departments of the affected institutions.

“They also forge assorted and customised stamps of banks, government agencies and other organisations.

“Some of the holders of such fake certificates are currently studying or working with government agencies and non-governmental organisations in the state.

“Many of them engage in forgery to enable them to secure job with the NGOs operating in the state,’’ Ibrahim said.
He called for a review of the process of issuing certificates by tertiary institutions in the state to check the menace.

According to him, investigation is ongoing in the matter because of the number of people connected with the fraud.
Speaking with newsmen, one of the suspects said he had paid N5,000 out of the N10,000 charged by the group to forge a diploma certificate for him.

Another suspect claimed that they had sophisticated equipment to forge certificates and other security documents within a short period of time, adding that they enjoyed high patronage in the state.