The management of the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, has handed over about four suspected certificate fraudsters to the police for investigation and prosecution.

The school management stated that the fraudulent acts of the suspects were uncovered through a visible and robust security system operational in the school.

Rector of the Polytechnic, Professor Usman Ogbo, who paraded the suspects in his office on Thursday before handing them over to the police, alleged that the suspects were operating as a syndicate within and outside the school campuses.

Prof Ogbo said, “Following intelligence reports and routine verification exercise by the admission unit, ICT unit and security unit, management uncovered organised fraudsters comprising Amina Mustapha, Mfom Asuquo, Danjuma Mercy Sunday, Abubakar Musa, Adejoh Faith, Ademu Rilwanu and Henry Tope.”

The Rector said, “One of the suspects, Amina Mustapha, who claimed to be a graduate of Computer Science from the Polytechnic, came boldly to request the issuance of original certificates for her National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) Certificates.

“Upon scrutiny of her admission and academic records, we noticed some discrepancies. We probed further and discovered that Amina Mustapha had never attended Kogi State Polytechnic, and her claimed matriculation numbers do not exist in the school admissions system.

“Further investigation led to the suspension of five of our staff, including a Deputy Registrar, who we discovered are involved in the fraud. Another staff member of the Polytechnic, Mr Dominic Egwuda, is on the run as we speak due to his involvement in the academic fraud.

“The principal suspect in the certificate forgery is one Henry Tope. He was given seventy thousand naira to forge certificate for the said Amina Mustapha. He was apprehended by the Polytechnic security, and we took him to his house for investigation to discover that he was in possession of 30 (thirty) original certificates of the Polytechnic bearing various names. We also recovered eight different official stamps of the Polytechnic, which he used to forge the certificates.

“Today, we are handing over the suspects to the police for thorough investigation and prosecution.

“Our fear now is, as much as we would want investigation and trial of the suspects without delay, the judiciary has been too slow in prosecuting such suspects. Those we arrested in the year 2020 for similar crimes have not been successfully prosecuted by the court to date. We are really worried over the delay in their trial because we expected the court to have concluded the trial to serve as a deterrent to students and staff with criminal intent”.

The Rector affirmed that the Polytechnic maintains a zero-tolerance policy for academic fraud, results falsification, and all forms of unethical conduct. “Any staff member, students or external collaborators found culpable will face the full wrath of the law in addition to institutional disciplinary measures.

“We wish to assure the general public, stakeholders and the Polytechnic community that our quality assurance measures and security mechanisms remain fully active and uncompromised.

“We shall not relent in our efforts to expose and eliminate all forms of misconduct that are capable of denting the hard-earned reputation of Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja.

“Management hereby expressed our gratitude to the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, for providing us with the necessary supports and funding to put in place necessary physical and security infrastructure, which strengthen the institution to withstand all internal and external security threats”, he said.