The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences Commission(ICPC) has arrested 17
youths for allegedly impersonating corps members
at the National Youth Service Corps Orientation
Camp at Kubwa, Abuja.
According to a statement sent to SUNDAY PUNCH on
Saturday, ICPC operatives made arrests on Thursday
evening while suspects were posing and taking
pictures outside the camp during the passing-out
ceremonies.
It said they stormed the NYSC Orientation Camp at
Kubwa based on intelligence reports and effected
the arrest of the suspects made up of eight females
and nine males.
During preliminary investigation, 15 of the ‘fake’
corps members claimed to have enrolled in degree
courses run by consultancy services in the following
institutions: University of Calabar (6), University of
Jos (6), Ebonyi State University (1), Federal
University of Technology, Owerri (1) and Crown
Polytechnic Ado-Ekiti (1).
“One of the other two said she never attended any
university but desired the NYSC discharge
certificate. The other, a young man, impersonated
his sister, a genuine corps member currently
receiving medical treatment abroad, in order to
collect her discharge certificate,” the statement
read.
The spokesman of the ICPC, Mr. Folu Olamiti, noted
that the commission’s Chairman, Mr. Ekpo Nta, has
at various public fora warned parents, guardians
and young students seeking admission into
universities and other tertiary institutions to ensure
that their proposed courses are approved by the
Nigerian Universities Commission and other
regulatory bodies.
The arrests bring to 26 the total the number of
“fake” corps members arrested by ICPC.
The commission had arrested nine others in May.
“ICPC hereby warns employers, parents and
guardians to cross-check with the NYSC if they are
suspicious of any person submitting call-up letters,
posting letters, Discharge and Exemption
Certificates,” the statement read in part.
It would also be recalled that the Department of
State Security on September 19 paraded a fake
NYSC syndicate in Abuja.