Four students of the University of Abuja will soon be prosecuted for allegedly using forged National Examinations Council (NECO) results to gain admission into the institution.
The suspects – Effiong Theresa Etim; Solomon Victor; Abdulkabir Mohammad and Yakubu Joy Adama were handed over to NECO by the management of the university for prosecution.
They have been arrested by the Nigeria Police and are currently in detention in Minna, Niger State capital headquarters of the examination body.
The suspects were found to have submitted forged results during the ongoing verification of certificate exercise embarked upon by NECO on all the higher institutions in Nigeria.
They were arrested in October 2019.
According to NECO, the verification exercise was aimed at overhauling the body and its certificate issuance in order to ensure that only credible certificates were issued to the public.
The suspects had been scheduled to appear before a Chief Magistrate Court, Wuse zone 2 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja on Monday.
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An official of the examination body told reporters that the suspects may likely be arraigned before the end of this week following the failed arraignment on Monday.
The students could spend up to 14 years in prison if found guilty of the alleged offenses according to the provisions of the Penal Code Act (which is applicable in the Northern part).
A one-count charge has been filed before the court, Police Prosecutor, Chijioke Chigozie, told reporters at the court premises on Monday.
However, the case has not been assigned to any judge yet.
Chigozie said about nine students of the university have so far been arrested over similar offense.
The students, he noted, are still undergoing further investigation to gather more information.
“This is to send a strong message to students out there using fake NECO certificates”, an official of NECO said on Monday.
