Kogi Poly suspends five staff members, arrests four students over certificate forgery scam
The Kogi State Polytechnic has uncovered a certificate forgery and document falsification syndicate involving nine suspects.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, October 31, in Lokoja, the institution’s Rector, Prof. Salisu Ogbo, revealed that five staff members have been suspended, while four individuals claiming to be students have been arrested in connection with the scam.
Prof. Ogbo explained that the syndicate—comprising some students, non-students, and a few dishonest staff members—was involved in manipulating academic records and producing fake certificates in total disregard for due process and institutional integrity.
He added that so far, 30 forged original certificates allegedly sold to unsuspecting buyers have been recovered.
“The suspects forged National Diploma (ND) results in the name of Kogi State Polytechnic and had the temerity to apply for Higher National Diploma (HND) admission in the same institution using the forged ND results,” he said.
According to him, the fraud was uncovered following intelligence reports and routine verification exercises carried out by the Admission, ICT, and Security Units of the institution.
“These individuals compromised our security arrangements and tampered with the security features on our Statements of Result.”
Ogbo said that they colluded with result processors to prepare results for individuals who had multiple carryovers but refused to sit for their examinations, thereby falsely portraying them as graduates.
“Such criminal acts represent an assault on the credibility and reputation of our institution, and they cannot be allowed to go unpunished,” he said.
The rector assured the general public, stakeholders, and the polytechnic community that the institution’s quality assurance measures and security mechanisms remain fully active and uncompromised.
“We will not relent in our effort to expose and eliminate all forms of misconduct that are capable of denting the hard-earned reputation of Kogi state Polytechnic, Lokoja,” he said.
