Civil Defence bursts Borno 7-man forgery syndicate

The Borno State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has arrested seven people, who specialised in forging fake school certificates and security documents.

The Commandant, Mr Abdullahi Ibrahim, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri on Monday.

He said that the suspects were arrested on Aug. 21 at the Post Office area of Maiduguri by the anti-fraud unit of the command.

Ibrahim explained that the suspects specialised in forging fake diploma and degree statement of results as well as National Youth Service Corps certificates.

The commandant said the suspects also specialised in forging fake admission letters and identification cards of the University of Maiduguri and the Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri.

Ibrahim, who did not give the names of the suspects, said that they comprised two non-academic staff of the university and five collaborators.

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

“They also forged 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.”

Ibrahim noted that investigation was still ongoing on the matter because of the huge number of people connected with the fraud.