ICPC arrests 17 ‘fake’ corps members

The Independent Corrupt Practices and
Other Related Offences Commission 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.
Punchng.com