Benin Fake Certificate: I Never Attended Any class, I spent N600k, Undercover Journalist Speaks
- Undercover reporter, Umar Shehu Audu, said he was able to get the certificate without having to apply, register, study, or take any tests.
- According to Audu, he doesn’t know where the school is located and was not issued an admission letter
- He disclosed that he spent roughly ₦600,000 to get a Bachelor of Science degree from a Benin Republic institution in two months.
Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 5-year-experience covering basic and tertiary education in Nigeria and worldwide
A reporter with the Daily Nigerian Newspaper, Umar Shehu Audu, has narrated how he secured a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication certificate from the Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies, Cotonou, Benin Republic.
Audu said he was not issued an admission letter and doesn’t know where the school is located.
He stated this during an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday, January 2, 2024.
The undercover journalist added that all he did was to get an agent who requested for money to get him the certificate.
Audu further stated that he spent roughly ₦600,000 to get the certificate.
“I was not even issued an admission letter. I don’t know where the school is located; all I did was get this agent and he requested a certain amount of money, which I paid.”
FG suspends Benin Republic, Togo varsities
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the federal government said it had suspended the evaluation and accreditation of degree certificates from universities in Togo and Benin Republic.
The move was the government’s reaction to an undercover report by an online newspaper that revealed how a Cotonou-based university issued a degree certificate to an investigative journalist within six weeks.
A statement from the Federal Ministry of Education on Tuesday, January 2, decried the situation in the two neighbouring countries. The statement was signed by Augustina Obilor-Duru for the director of press and public relations.
ICPC meets undercover reporter, launches investigation
The chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Musa Aliyu, met with Audu after the latter uncovered fake degrees given by mushroom universities in Benin and Togo.
According to a tweet from the anti-graft agency, while meeting the reporter, the ICPC sought information from him to help the anti-graft agency look into academic fraud.
Source: Legit.ng